


What Your Soul Sings

by dragontattoo75



Category: Twilight Series - Stephenie Meyer
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Demonstrating, First Time, Friendship, Growing Up, M/M, Male Slash, Outdoor Sex, Pining, Protesting, Road block, Romance, tree hugging
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-10-10
Updated: 2013-04-01
Packaged: 2017-11-16 01:37:40
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 16
Words: 38,872
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/534044
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dragontattoo75/pseuds/dragontattoo75
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Being an idealistic teenager is sometimes hard for Jasper, but as life shapes and polishes him, he learns to interpret what his souls sings to him—and to live by it.</p><p>  <a href="http://s1354.beta.photobucket.com/user/Dragontattoo75/library/"></a><br/><img/></p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> My wonderful banner made by Mina Rivera.  
> Thank you Jasper1863Hale, Maureen Thomas and Karenec for pre-reading and Sue273 for betaing. Thank you KellanCougar for helping me decide on the title and the summary. I'm very grateful to all of you.
> 
> The story's title come from the song with the same name by Massive Attack.

The song Jasper listens to in Rosalie's car at the end of this chapter is 'Suicide by Star' by God is an Astronaut: www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZltd_nz2ag

.

Mustering all the courage he can find in his fifteen year old scrawny body, Jasper leaves his bedroom and knocks hard on Rosalie's door, determined to ignore the nervousness in his stomach.

It flings open before he can knock a second time, revealing Emmett, face flushed and with his fly open. "Where's the fire?" his deep voice booms in the hall.

"Not in your pants, that's for sure," Jasper's two year older sister quips back, her words like a whip from where she stands behind Emmett. She shoves him out into the corridor. "Now, be gone or be late!"

Emmett stumbles down the stairs, blowing a kiss to her, and throwing words to him, "See you later, Jas!"

A second later, they hear their front door rattle in its frame and Jasper turns to face his older sister, biting his lip.

"I guess the blowjob didn't relieve as much stress as he hoped it would," Rosalie says dryly, rolling her eyes at her little brother's expression of disgust. "Oh, baby boy, don't give me that face."

"Rose, you know I hate hearing about you and Em doing the nasty." She laughs at his comment, but lets him continue. "Besides, blowjobs are so disgusting. Who wants to have a ... a penis in their mouth?"

"Oh, Jasper, I can't wait for the day you come home with your first girlfriend. How I'm going to tease you!" she laughs, her blue eyes glimmering at him.

Huffing, Jasper finds the thought of coming home with a girl in the near future ridiculous to him. "No one in this small town of ours interests me in that way, you know that."

"We'll see, we'll see," she says like she knows something he doesn't while studying her nails. "So, what's your deal?"

"I'm ready," he says, trying his best to hide the little tremble in his voice with a cough.

Rosalie raises one eyebrow, then marches past him, flipping her waist-long blonde hair in his face. She knows she has the upper hand at the moment.

"Well, come on then!" The end of her sentence echoes against the bathroom tiles. He hurries to follow her before one of them changes their minds. "So where is your stuff?"

She opens the door to the cabinet under the sink and starts jostling around items in there. Shoving her to the side, Jasper quickly finds the blue plastic bag in the back where he hid it a week ago and gives it to her.

He watches as she throws the contents of the bag in the sink. "I hope this is all we'll need because I have to do this right now if I'm ever going to do it."

Rosalie is clearly not listening and doesn't hear the tremble in his voice.

She claps her hands together joyfully. "Ooh, this is going to be so much fun!" Taking a quick look around, she instructs him, "Okay, you should sit on the toilet and pull your t-shirt off."

.

One hour later, Jasper stares at a very pale looking boy with completely black hair reflected in the mirror. The boy touches his chin just like Jasper does, so it must be him, even though he looks very different. Before he can decide what to think of his new look, a small screech from the door interrupts him.

"Oh, my God!" Rosalie enters his room, wide eyed and staring at him.

She tousles his hair as she passes him on her way to her regular spot in his room - the bay window with a view of the forest at the end of their garden.

She looks expectantly at Jasper as she gets herself comfortable on the cushion, folding her white arms around her long legs. "So, what's the verdict, brother of mine?"

He turns back toward the mirror, feeling his hair. The coloring makes it feel stiffer and it doesn't curl the same way. The strands over his forehead fall into his eyes now.

"You know I want it this way," he says. "I just need a little time to adjust to my own reflection."

He swings his chair back to Rosalie. "What do you think?" His sister's opinion means more to him than he'll ever admit to her willingly.

She smiles reassuringly. "I think it looks great on you." She turns around, looking out at the forest like she always does, sighing. "How I wish this was my room."

"No, you wouldn't want that. You'd only sit and stare out of the window all day," Jasper teases her.

"You don't make as much out of the view as you should," she says accusingly.

Shaking his head, Jasper admits to her, "No, I sit there, too. But I prefer being outside in it; walking in it, smelling, hearing, feeling."

"Yeah, I know," Rosalie whispers. "Just like Dad did."

Jasper blinks at her. "Yeah," he whispers. "Just like Dad did."

Rosalie sighs heavily and gets up. As she heads for the door, she playfully says, "What you really should ask yourself is 'What is Mom going to say?'"

Her laughter fills the hallway as she runs downstairs. Fuck, he hadn't thought this completely through. "Can we just say it was a bet?" he yells after her.

"Oh, no, this is all on you. I only did what you asked me," he hears from downstairs.

"Yeah?" he yells. "What you really should ask yourself is why Em wasn't more sated after you blew him tonight!"

Her laughter sounds far away. "Ha! You're just envious. I'm going to watch Emmett's game now. I think Mom will be home soon, so you better prepare yourself!"

Jasper slaps his hand hard on his forehead. The game! He'd completely forgotten about it. Facing his mom will take all of his courage tonight. There's no way he can go out, too.

He hopes his mother won't have a heart attack, or ground him or something for this. He's never been grounded before like some of his friends, but then again, he usually doesn't do anything wrong and often goes to his mother or his sister if he has any problems.

Deciding to keep his old and familiar clothes on when he hears his mother downstairs, he slowly walks down, taking one step at a time. He becomes more and more nervous until his mother is standing right before him, luckily with her back to him.

"Mom?" Jasper says softly, not to startle her.

"Hmm?" His mother turns around seemingly in slow motion, facing Jasper with a sandwich in her hand. Her food drops to the floor, as she gasps to take in enough air to shriek, "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO MY BEAUTIFUL HAIR?"

She stumbles towards him, pulling her hand through his now black locks.

"Mom, it's my hair, not yours," he reminds her unnecessarily. "You always say hair grows on private ground and this feels like me, you know?"

He goes to the fridge and takes out the ingredients to make new sandwiches, thinking he might as well make some for himself, too. He's always hungry these days.

"Oh, I know it's your own hair, sweetheart," his mother says, coming up behind him at the counter. "But this is so different from your own color. Couldn't you have used something just a little bit darker? Not so, so ... black?" Her warm hand rests on his back and he knows he's safe for now.

"This is how I want it," he answers her and she sighs beside him. "It's not like this is the end of the world or anything."

"Yeah, I get it," she says. "I remember how it is to be a teenager, you know?"

He glances at her sideways, showing her the dimple in his chin that he knows she loves.

Punching his shoulder lightly, she laughs. "Oh, I saw that look. It's not that long ago!" Taking her new sandwich from him, she leans against the counter. "Besides you're a good kid. You always do your homework and never do anything stupid. I'm not going to say anything more about your hair now."

Jasper tries to not let his relief show too much. "Thanks, Mom," he says.

"Did Rosalie help you with this?" his mom asks between bites, looking at him suspiciously.

"Mom! I'm fifteen-years-old, practically a grown up. I can make my own decisions, you know?" he says, trying to keep his sister out of it. "I asked her to help me, but I wanted to tell you myself," he says, popping a tomato into his mouth. Nothing wrong with a little white lie when this seems to be going so well.

"So, why aren't you at the game with Rosalie, when you know how important this game is for Emmett? Are you hiding your new hair?" Fuck, his mother can see straight through him sometimes.

"I'm way too tired to go," he says, pretending to yawn. Leaning down like he's needed to the last months, he kisses his mother's chin. "Goodnight, Mom. See you in the morning."

As he takes the steps two at a time, his mother calls after him, "I'm leaving for an early shift tomorrow, Jasper, but I'll be home to cook dinner for all of us."

Thank God, he thinks, then she won't see his new clothes until she's too late to stop him. If he'd been able to follow his mother's shift schedule at the hospital, he couldn't have planned this any better.

.

In the morning, Jasper wakes up to his alarm clock ringing, feeling sweaty and breathless with his heart hammering in his chest and he doesn't even know why. A dream, or a long forgotten memory, is slipping away from his consciousness as he tries to remember it.

He takes deep breaths to try to calm himself, looking up at the ceiling where he still sees the glow in the dark stickers from when he was little. He slowly sits up, scratches his head and is immediately reminded of what day it is—the day he shows the world who he is. No more dressing up in the clothes his mother bought for him, or wearing white undies, or anything with much color at all, really.

No more postponing, he thinks. He's already dyed his hair, now he must take the next step.

Swallowing down the fluttering nervousness in his stomach, he stands up and forces himself to be the man he is – fifteen years old and all.

Wearing only his briefs (black ones), he grabs a couple of sets of pants, t-shirts, and a hoodie, goes to the bathroom, where he throws it all on the floor, and turns on the shower.

He's still only in his towel and drying himself when Rosalie marches in and starts brushing her teeth. "Fuck, Rose, I'm getting dressed here."

"So?" Rosalie asks, her words muffled by the toothbrush in her mouth, then she spits in the sink. Kicking the clothes on the floor with her bare foot, she asks, "What have you decided to wear?"

"Uhm, I'm not sure yet," Jasper replies, considering what Rosalie had helped him purchase in secondhand shops in Seattle two weeks ago.

"I'll help you with it," she says, drying her mouth with a towel. Holding up the two sets of worn cargo pants, she inspects them carefully, then hands him the black ones. "You definitely should wear these today. Start off with a bang."

"What?"

"I mean you should just jump into it. Don't be a coward."

Swallowing hard, he quickly puts them on and grabs the t-shirt Rosalie holds out in front of him. He thinks it must have said something with 'peace' once.

"Now, let's fix your hair a bit and then we should get you something to eat," she says. "You look like you're going to pass out."

Following Rosalie downstairs to the kitchen, she opens the refrigerator, and looks inside as he starts making them lunches for school. "Bacon and eggs?" she asks, knowing well he'll decline.

"Rose, you know I'm a vegetarian. Of course I don't eat bacon!"

He winks at her. "But I wouldn't say no to scrambled eggs."

Sitting at the table eating together, she asks him what the next step in his plan is.

"Oh, I'm going to school with you and I'll hide behind your big back for the rest of the day," he says, making them both laugh. Over the last few months he's grown a head higher than her.

"You wish," she says, trying to stick him with her fork. Jasper stands up when he's finished with his eggs and tea, and starts filling the dishwasher, while Rosalie packs their lunch in their bags.

"No, seriously, what's your plan?" Rosalie asks again when they're tying their shoelaces. She's done before Jasper is finished with just one—his new boots have lots of laces.

"I'm going to show up and if anybody asks me something or makes a comment," he says, trying to keep his voice as steady as he wants it to be, "I'm going to take it from there."

He wiggles a little in his clothes; they feel unfamiliar to him and he jumps up and down a few times, trying to get comfortable in his new boots.

He stops when he sees Rosalie's face. "Are you finished?" she asks. "You're behaving like a cat who's trying to get comfortable in his new bed, or something."

Finally, he buries his hands in the big pockets of his pants. "Very funny," he says, giving her shoulder a push with his, as he passes her on their way to the garage.

"Okay then, let's go." Rosalie grabs her car keys from the basket by the door. "Let's get this show on the road!"

Jasper sits in the passenger side of her car, rolling the window down to feel the still warm autumn breeze on his face while she drives. They listen to some music Rosalie decides on – it's her car, her music choice – and he watches the trees of the forest pass in a flurry. He sighs softly, but his sister hears him anyway.

"Nervous?" she asks him, changing the music to a song she knows he likes. "You can always hang out with me and my friends for lunch if you want. They won't give you a hard time, I promise."

"I know that," he says gratefully. " I'll be all right."

Rosalie gives him a little smile and a squeeze of his hand. Looking at the trees passing by and listening to the music, finally small bits of his dream come floating back.

He's trying not to fall over the roots on the forest trail, while clinging to the huge, jacket clad back in front of him. He wonders where they're going, but it doesn't matter, he knows it will be somewhere magical—it always is. The long legs in front of him walk too fast for his own short ones, but he doesn't complain—he knows he's safe.

Blinking back wetness from his eyes, he squeezes Rosalie's hand back. "I'll be all right," he says again, more to himself than to her.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you Jasper1863Hale, Maureen Thomas and Karen Ec for pre-reading and Sue273 for betaing.
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight. No copyright infringement intended. The environmental organization Save the Forest in this story, exists only in my mind.
> 
> When Jasper rides to school on the forest trail, he listens to The Knife's song 'Heartbeats': youtube.com/watch?v=4ow0bA4H3BQ

Jasper's twisting a small bag over and over in his hand, unable to keep his fingers still.

Buying the stuff yesterday, he'd been so sure he could manage it all by himself; he just needed a good patch of light and some ice cubes to get started, and he wasn't afraid of a little pain. Today though, as he's about to start, his hands are shaking somewhat, making him afraid of missing. There is no alternative to screwing this up—the consequences of his mother's wrath will not be pretty.

He needs his sister's help again, as he did last month when dyeing his hair black.

Knocking on his sister's door tentatively, he calls out for her, "Rosalie, you in there?" There's no music coming from inside and he's not sure where she is, being Friday night and all. If she has Emmett over, there's always the chance they're doing things he does not want to think about—or God forbid—see evidence of.

"We're down here, Jas!" she shouts from downstairs.

Sighing in relief, he runs down the stairs, finding her sitting on the sofa with Emmett by her side. They're laughing at something a deep voice says. A tall, broad-framed guy with short, dark brown hair has his back to him.

Jasper lifts his bag for Rosalie to see, and asks, "Umh, I was just wondering if you'd help me with the thing we discussed?" This is probably a bad time to ask, he realizes.

At his voice, the third person gets up, turns around and suddenly Jasper's staring into dark brown eyes framed by thick, long eyelashes. The boy's tall with upper arms threatening to break the fabric of his t-shirt.

Jasper says something, but his throat is dry and he has no idea what came out, as he feels Rosalie's hand on his shoulder and hears her introduce them.

"Peter, this is my little brother, Jasper, who isn't so little anymore." Rosalie laughs.

Peter's smiling with perfect white teeth and holds out his hand for Jasper to shake. Jasper's fingers are engulfed in a warm, strong hand.

"Jasper, this is Peter. He and his sister just moved here to live with their father, Chief Swan. Peter's in mine and Emmett's class—" Rosalie's still talking, but Jasper's ears are buzzing all of a sudden. He has no idea why.

All he can focus on is the warm hand shaking his and the eyes looking into his own. There might be some incoherent mumbling coming from his mouth again. He can't be sure.

"Nice to meet you, Jasper," Peter says politely. "Perhaps you've met my little sister, Bella? She might be in your grade."

Shaking his head in denial, he feels himself blush and stutter like he used to do all the time when he was younger. "N-nice to meet you, too. I... I can't say I remember a new girl at school. Does she look like you?" He's positive he would have noticed if he had seen a female version of Peter.

Rosalie says, "Yeah, you two look very much alike."

Peter winks at Jasper. Shit, can he read his mind?

"Well, when you meet her, try to be a friend, could you? She doesn't know anyone here yet," Peter suggests, retracting his hand from Jasper's.

"Uhu," Jasper breathes, missing Peter's hand immediately, and feels a little dizzy when he realizes why. He needs to be alone. He needs the safety of his own room. Right now.

Running upstairs like a lunatic, he drops down on the floor, leaning against his bed, his head on his knees. His heart is thundering in his chest, like he's run a marathon, not just up the stairs. Trying to focus on his breathing to calm himself down, he soon feels better, his common sense returning.

What the hell just happened to him?

There's a soft knocking on his door, and Rosalie asks, "Can I come in, please?"

He doesn't answer, knowing she'll come in anyway.

Rosalie doesn't sit in the bay window as usual. She sits down beside him, stroking her hand over his back. Her fingers end up playing with his dyed hair, scratching his scalp like she used to do when he was younger, when they watched movies together on the sofa.

"Emmett and Peter have gone to football practice," she says softly. "Do you want to talk about what happened down there?"

"I don't know," he says unsure, then lifts his head to look at her. "It was panic or something. I can't explain it."

"Hm, it didn't look like panic to me," Rosalie says thoughtfully. "Why don't we make dinner and talk more later, if you want to?"

She stands and tries to drag him up using her weight, but he's too heavy for her and she falls over, before they run downstairs laughing.

Later, as the two of them are sitting at the dinner table, it's only Rosalie who's eating. Jasper's pushing his broccoli around with his fork, lost in thought.

"Why are you not eating? You're always so hungry," Rosalie asks, her mouth full of food. "Is it this Peter-thing? Do you like him or something?"

Jasper stabs his broccoli, looking shocked at his sister, before his expression softens. "Oh you mean... Yeah, he seemed like a nice enough guy."

Rosalie grins at him. "Oh, he is!" She drinks up her water.

"Now, will you please tell me what you needed help with before this Peter-thing?"

"Ah, don't call it this Peter-thing! Please don't make a big deal out of it."

Trying to force some of his couscous and lentils down, he needs to drink water to swallow it for his throat feels so dry. "I was hoping you could help me get the nose ring I told you about?"

"Yeah, okay," she willingly agrees. "You can come with me to Seattle tomorrow, if you want?" Jasper starts to say something, but she interrupts him. "I'm driving there anyway, mind you, so you don't have to think about you causing pollution." She's smiling at him teasingly.

He sighs, preparing himself for yet another of their discussions. This one they've been through many times already; he thinks she'd be done by now.

"No, no, I don't need to hear your arguments again." Rosalie holds her hands up in front of her. "You know I respect your decision to not get your own license. I just think you're making your life more complicated than it has to be. Life's full of obstacles already, why add to it?"

"Don't you think I know that? With dad and everything?" he sighs. He thinks it's kind of unfair of her to pretend he's too young or naïve to know about difficulties in life. "This is what I want. I want to do whatever I can to save our planet, and if taking the bus or riding my bike is one of those things, I'd say it's a small sacrifice for me to make."

"Maybe you'll change your mind when I leave for college and you don't have my warm car at hand when it's snowing on a school morning."

Jasper glares at her. He's so much more determined than that.

"You know I love and kind of admire you for it, Jas, but I also want what's best for you, and this is just too impractical in little Forks. If we lived in Seattle or something, I wouldn't say a thing!" Rosalie's voice is getting higher as he hears their front door close.

"Why wouldn't you say a thing?" Their mom is home from a day shift at the hospital. Sinking down, she puts her feet up on the last empty chair and grabs a piece of Jasper's broccoli with a tired but amused look on her face.

Rosalie fills her in. "Oh, you know, we're having the old save-the-earth-by-himself discussion again." His sister rolls her eyes at him, but smiles at the same time.

Jasper gets frustrated anyway. "I know I can't save the planet all by myself, Rosalie! How stupid do you think I am? Think about it; if everyone did a little bit more, what would happen then?"

He notices the look Rosalie sends Mom. Sometimes he feels like he has two mothers.

.

Monday morning, Jasper sits up in bed, instantly feeling his nose with his fingertips. It's still a little sore, but feels much better than the day before. His mom saw it right away, of course, after Rosalie and he came home from Seattle. Her reaction wasn't too bad. Inspecting his nose from both angles, holding his chin in her hand, he got the expected lecture about sanitation and bacteria.

"Do you know the amount of bacteria living in your nose, Jasper?" she asked him. "Have you bought neosporin and gauze? If not, I'm sure I can find some. You know you must clean this on both sides morning and night the first week, then you do it once a day for about two months.",

Jasper had tuned her out since the start of her lecture; he'd already received all the information he needed from the shop.

Eating his breakfast with Rosalie, Jasper decides to take his bicycle to school, just to prove his point to his sister. He actually likes riding his bike as he listens to music, especially when he takes the trail through the forest and familiar scents in the air clears his head for a day of learning.

Jasper's not nervous about his friends' reactions on seeing his nose ring, not like he was when he dyed his hair last month and came to school looking completely different from top to toe. His friends are used to his new looks by now. They might not want a nose ring for themselves, but he's certain they'll like him no matter how he looks.

Growing up in a small town like Forks, Jasper and most of his classmates have known each other since kindergarten. His best friend, Ben, moved here five years ago with his parents and his dog. Ben combs his hair neatly to one side every morning, wears light blue polo shirts, and goes to church with his family every Sunday. Nothing wrong with that, it's just not Jasper's thing.

He suspects part of the reason Ben doesn't try to get out of getting up early every Sunday morning, is the pastor's daughter, Angela. Ben hasn't said a word about liking her, but Jasper's noticed the way he looks at her at school, the way his eyes follow her as she finds her usual table with her girlfriends at lunch.

Angela is great and very friendly. He doesn't blame his friend at all for liking her; she's just not Jasper's type.

Parking his bike with the few others in front of the school, Jasper takes off his headphones, and finds his locker to get a couple of books for first period. He's minding his own business, when he hears an unfamiliar female voice right beside him.

"Nice nose ring!"

He looks down to see big, dark brown eyes staring up at him. Eyes he's seen once before.

"Bella?"

She has exactly the same coloring as her big brother, but her eyes are framed with some kind of dark makeup he cannot name. Her hair is very long, shaved at one side of her head, and on the other side she has intricate braids with blue ribbons in it. And she has a lip ring.

She's still staring at him, making him a bit uncomfortable with the intensity of it. Here, right before him, is the female version of Peter. Then why doesn't she make him blush and stutter like Peter did, especially when she's scrutinizing him this way?

He fingers his nose ring.

"Oh yeah," the girl says, swallowing visibly, then holds out her hand and smiles sweetly. "Yes, I'm Bella."

Jasper looks down at her hand, half expecting it to feel like her brother's as he takes it, but it feels just like any other hand. "I'm Jasper," he says, before retracting his hand as the bell rings. "I'll talk to you later, Bella. I have to hurry to class now."

She waves one hand at him, still smiling when he turns for a second as he runs off.

Over the weekend, Jasper thought about Peter and came to the conclusion that meeting his sister could be very interesting, very interesting indeed. Sitting down at the last minute in biology class, luckily before the teacher gets in, he finds his thoughts drifting off to Bella and her long legs with blue and black lined stockings.

Never in his life has he been late for a class and it's almost a disappointment for him to realize Bella will not be the one he'll break his routine for.

Mr. Banner starts to speak and Jasper quickly finds his books from his back pack, readying himself for his favorite subject.

"There is no need to take out your books," Mr. Banner says surprisingly, rustling through some papers on the desk right in front of Jasper. "We're starting a new project today, culminating in a presentation before Thanksgiving break. I'm going to call your names now, and you will use the rest of this lesson to discuss with your partner."

Mr. Banner hands out their assignments. "Jasper, you and Bella will be partners in this one."

Jasper turns to look for Bella. He had no idea she was in his class, but this is biology after all, his favorite class and he's sitting right in front of the teacher's desk, following the lesson closely as always.

"You choose the topic yourselves, but it has to involve a local environmental issue." Jasper hears a lot of sighs around the room.

"This must be something right up alley," Mr. Banner says to him, as he passes him on his way back.

Jasper often talks to Mr. Banner after class. His teacher's always willing to answer all of his questions and sometimes eats his lunch as they discuss.

Finally, he finds Bella's brown eyes on the back row. She's leaning her chair against the wall, grinning at him widely, and he finds himself smiling back at her.

Turning around to read his papers, Jasper quickly starts writing down possible topics for their project as his eyes dart down the assignment. A chair scraping against the floor beside him interrupts his thoughts.

"I have a great idea for this project!" Bella's voice is very enthusiastic in his ear. "I went grocery shopping yesterday and noticed an ad at the store. There's an organization starting a local group here soon. We should show up at a meeting!"

"But I already have a list of ideas here," he says, showing her his paper, not being very interested in some organization.

"Okay, we can take a look at your list," Bella offers, grabbing his notes. "But I want us to go to the store later and find a phone number to Save the Forest. It's a subject close to my heart."

Jasper stares at her then, thousands of thoughts racing through his mind for a second.

Bella cares about the forest. She wants to go to a meeting with Save the Forest.

He decides then and there, even though he might not be interested in her as his girlfriend, he definitely wants to be her friend.

Smiling warmly at her, he's trying his best now to make her like him, but she doesn't seem to notice his effort, because her eyes are glazed over, looking a little lost as she stares at his face. He pats her shoulder and she jumps a little.

"Hey, Bella, I'd love to go find the phone number later," he says softly to her.

"Oh, yes, sorry, phone number," she rambles, before adding enthusiastically, "Yes, let's do it!"


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you Jasper1863Hale, Maureen Thomas and Karen Ec for pre-reading and Sue273 for betaing. A special thank you to 35nanou for being such a great friend and an enthusiastic cheerleader in my writing process.
> 
> I don't own Twilight. No copyright infringement intended. The environmental organization Save the Forest in this story, exists only in my mind.
> 
> In Bella's room they listen to Wolves by Jesu: www.youtube.com/watch?v=YCdo0cuxL3w
> 
> Chapter 3

Jasper makes plans with Bella to meet outside the grocery store after school, to take the first step on their biology project—finding the phone number to the environmental organization, Save the Forest.

It's a fifteen minute bike ride for Jasper to get there, and he waits a while before he hears an old bike coming around the corner, creaking and squeaking; Bella waves at him from the seat.

The brakes squeal in protest when it stops beside Jasper. Bella's face is flushed red.

"What?" she utters breathlessly, leaning her bike against the wall as she notices Jasper's expression. She crosses her arms in front of her chest, pretending to be hurt. "Hey, I'm not perfect like you!"

"Huh? Me perfect? Why would you say that?"

"Well, let's see," she says, not bothering to lock her bike beside his before they go into the store. Her combat boots resound with every step she takes, as she holds her hand up, listing on her fingers as she counts the reasons. "Being the teacher's pet, sitting with your nose in a book at every break, having a well-oiled and useful bike, and well," she casually waves her hand at him. "Look at you."

"What?" He glances down himself.

Bella rolls her eyes, shockingly just like his sister does. "Have you looked in a mirror lately?"

"Uhm, yes?"

Shaking her head at him, she laughs as she leads the way to the board beside the cash register, fishing her cellphone from her bag. She holds it to her ear as she waits for the call to be answered, scanning the notes before holding her finger to her other ear to cover it.

"Hello, is this Jacob?"

Jasper tunes her out after a while and looks over the ads in front of them. A note made from recycled paper bears the name Save the Forest, along with their logo and a picture of a woman hugging a tree. It says a local chapter will start up soon in Forks and anyone interested can contact a Jacob Black in the Seattle chapter for more information.

"Well, it's settled then," Bella tells him eventually, as she puts her cell in her bag. "We're going to their meeting next Thursday. Then we'll see if this is something we can use for our project."

"That's good," Jasper says. "Do you want to find out more about this organization online right away? Do some groundwork?"

Bella takes his arm as they walk outside. "Yeah, we could go over to my place?"

The trees pass slowly by as they snail forward, with Bella pedaling for dear life, even though Jasper rides the slowest he's able to.

"How come you use a rusty old bike like this?" Jasper asks her. "It can't be easy to get around on time for everything?"

"Nah, I saw it behind Dad's garage when Peter and I moved here a few days ago. Here it's hopeless to get around with public transportation, so I figured I'd use it until I get a chance to find a better one."

"Yeah, I wish the bus drove more often. "

"That would have been great. All the politicians are concerned about is spewing out money for building new roads and shit. They definitely don't bother with buses here on the outskirts."

Finally outside Chief Swan's house, Jasper suddenly finds himself very relieved he's never had any trouble with the law. "Will your father be home?"

Bella looks at him, bemused as she parks by the door, adjusting her bag over her shoulder and pulling her sweaty shirt away from her chest. "Nah, he always works late. Peter will probably be home later though. It's his turn to cook tonight." She finds the keys.

"Ah, yes," Jasper mumbles. The thought of meeting Peter again makes him feel a little sweaty, too. "Your brother was at my house the other day with Rose and Em."

He follows Bella inside and up the stairs. They'll be in her room, he tells himself, he probably won't see Peter at all, let alone talk to him.

Then he walks into a dark, black and purple nest, smelling strongly of incense.

A lamp is turned on, the light dimmed by a red scarf over the screen, as Bella gestures to the bed. "I don't have any chairs yet, so you'll have to sit there."

Jasper glances around. The room looks very different from any other girl's room. There are a couple of boxes in a corner, but the shelf by her window is already filled to the rim. "Hey, you've got loads of books!"

Bella turns on some music and a distorted guitar fills the air as he scans the spines to learn more about his new friend. There's no Jane Austen or Emily Bronte in sight; there's zombies and vampires, werewolves, science fiction and horror.

"Not a typical romantic girl, are you?" Jasper observes as he sits down on Bella's bed, his feet tucked under himself and leaning his back against the wall. She's got her laptop ready in between them, already busy searching.

"Nah," she answers distractedly. "I'm not the white picket fence, two kids and a dog kind of romantic, but I do like boys," she looks up at him, winking, "and I am looking."

Jasper doesn't know how to react to her suggestiveness. He's not used to girls looking at him the way Bella does.

She laughs at him. "Relax, Jas. I can tell you're not interested. We'll be great friends, I'm sure." She points to her computer. "Do you want us to go over your list of suggestions for project topics, or do you want to start with Save the Forest?"

"Let's just go for your idea," Jasper offers.

It's late when he stretches out on Bella's bed, scratching his stomach when he hears it rumbling. It's been a long day and he feels like taking a nap here on Bella's warm and comfy bed. The incense and music lulls him into a comfortable stupor. Working for a couple of hours, they've found loads of useful stuff, making their project so much easier.

He looks up at Bella where she sits, seeing her mouth a little slack where she's staring at his stomach. He notices his t-shirt has slid up, revealing his skin.

"Just friends, remember?" he smiles at her, sitting up.

Bella closes her laptop. "Oh, you can't blame a girl for looking!"

He laughs at her flushed face. "It's late. I need to go home to eat dinner."

"Yeah, I guess we've done as much as we can for now. Let's wait for the meeting and ask our questions to Jacob." She gets up, offering, "I'll follow you out to your bike."

Walking downstairs, delicious aromas flow and Jasper's mouth waters, as they approach the kitchen.

Bella stops in the doorway. "What are you making?"

Jasper looks over her shoulder, finding Peter standing there, stirring a pot at the stove. His shirt is on the counter beside him and he's only in a tank, revealing his muscular chest, as he turns around at hearing Bella's voice.

Jasper swallows, trying to moisten his suddenly dry throat, looking hard at the counter instead. Here is the Peter-thing again.

"You two have met, right?" Bella asks, opening the fridge and taking out orange juice to fill two glasses.

Jasper takes the one she offers him, drinking the cold liquid straight down his dry throat. He glances at Peter when he answers Bella, while turning back to the stove.

"Yeah, Jasper's sister's in my grade. The two of you sure come from good genes!" he laughs, blowing on a spoon of sauce.

Bella places her empty glass on the counter. "Yeah? Rosalie's as pretty as Jas?"

"Hey!" Jasper says laughing. "Will you stop it already!"

Bella tells her brother matter-of-factly, "He doesn't know it."

Jasper turns to the hallway, his hands up in mocking surrender. "Fine! I'm leaving."

"Aw, come on, we're only teasing you!" Bella follows after him.

Jasper pulls on his boots and starts tying the endless knots. "Yeah, I know. I'm just uncomfortable talking about looks. We're just who we are, you know?"

Bella nods at him, then Peter calls from the kitchen. "Hey, Jasper, it was great of you to befriend Bella!"

Jasper, finished tying his boots, calls back, "I think it was more her befriending me, actually!" Bella laughs with him, following him outside to his bike.

Finding his headphones, he searches for music to listen to on his way home and Bella leans over his mp3-player. "You really like music, right?" she asks.

"Couldn't live without it."

She grins up at him. "Me either. Let me see what you got there." She searches through his player. "Do you play any instruments yourself?"

"Nah, I started playing guitar once, but I'll stick to listening. It's better for everyone."

"Yeah, me too," Bella says laughing. Before he puts on his headphones, she hugs him. "See you at school tomorrow morning."

.

In the cafeteria at lunch the next day, Jasper is sitting with Ben when he hears Bella saying, "See! That's what I told you. He always has his nose in a book, he's like the teacher's pet."

Bella sits down opposite him, Angela sliding in beside her. He closes his book with a grin. "Hi, girls!"

"Hi, Jasper." Angela looks shyly at Ben. "Hi." Jasper kicks his foot sideways under the table.

"Hey," Ben says, suddenly shy.

"So, I was thinking, Jasper," Bella says, fishing her lunchbox from her bag. "Don't you think we need some friendly backup at the meeting next week?" She stares meaningfully at him.

"Uhm, yes?"

She raises one eyebrow sharply.

"Sure," he drags out, turning to his friend. "Hey, Ben, could you please come with me to this meeting next week? You know, for schoolwork? I really need you there, for moral support."

Bella smiles at Jasper. He got her hint.

"Angela has already agreed to come with me," she tells them brightly.

Immediately Ben agrees, "Oh, yes! Sure, Jas. Whatever you need."

Jasper feels Bella's shoe nudge his leg. "It's settled then! We'll meet you guys there." He looks at her, seeing her winking at him.

.

The air is cold in Jasper's face as he and Ben ride their bikes to the community center. They park outside, sitting on the bench as they wait for the girls to arrive for the meeting; they're late.

Jasper watches people coming and going, so it takes a while before he notices Ben's knee jumping rapidly. He puts his hand on it briefly.

"Hey, man, calm down," he says softly, withdrawing his hand just as a tall frame in a black hoodie brushes past him.

"Yeah," Ben says. "I'm calm."

Jasper suppresses his smile when two bikes come to a screeching halt right in front of them, with Bella and Angela short of breath. Ben jumps up greeting them.

Ben leads the way inside, finding the right room—where he used to go to scout meetings—easily. Bella brushes past them to meet the Native American guy standing in the doorway. Welcoming them, he tells Bella he's Jacob, coming from Seattle to start a local chapter in Forks.

There are just a few other people in the room Jasper notices; a couple of grownups, three senior girls from Rosalie's grade, and Seth from junior year. They're already seated on the chairs placed in a circle in the middle of the room. Jacob clears his throat loudly, so Jasper and his friends hurry to find their own seats.

A tall guy in a black hoodie leans against the opposite wall, never saying anything, just nodding from time to time at what Jacob says. Jasper can't see his face, it's all hidden underneath the hood over his head.

An hour later, they all stretch as they get up. The meeting is over, but Jacob will be back for another in two weeks. Before they leave, he asks them to spread the word and invite their friends along next time. Walking outside, the grownups go home right away, but Jasper and the others linger by the door. Jacob and one of the senior girls smoke a cigarette while talking.

It's dark when they make their way home. Jasper walks beside Bella, as they roll their bikes beside each other, chewing gum. Their biology project is settled after the meeting—there is no doubt about it, they decide. Save the Forest is perfect, it's even something they both agree on wanting to continue with despite their project.

Bella glances backwards and nudges Jasper. "Aw, look at the two of them."

He turns around and sees Ben and Angela walking slowly, already far behind them, like they're in their own little world.

"Yeah," Jasper sighs. "He's had a crush on her since forever."

"That's so great! I know Angela really likes him. She's so shy though." Bella looks sideways at him. "How about you?"

"How about me what?"

"Do you have a crush on anyone?"

"Nah, there's never any girls here I like that way. This is such a crappy town," Jasper laughs.

"How about boys, then?"

Jasper swallows, feeling uncomfortable. "I don't know," he says. He hasn't known Bella that long, and he's not even sure himself.

"I saw the way you looked at my brother," Bella says softly. "Too bad he's straight, or you could have been my brother! And that hot guy in the hoodie at the meeting?"

"Fuck," Jasper mumbles, embarrassed.

"It's all right," Bella rushes to say. "It's okay to like guys—it's no biggie. Some like girls, some like boys, that's just how it is." She sits up on her bike, riding slowly beside him, the pedals screeching. "Hey, I've kissed a girl once."

Jasper's surprised at her admission. "You did?"

"Yeah, it wasn't anything special," she shrugs. "I totally get you liking boys. Hey, we can drool over guys together! Hey! And porn, you know gay porn! Ooh, think of the possibilities. This is so cool! I hereby declare you my best friend."

Her enthusiasm infects him and he laughs at her.

He's never going to show her his favorite porn sites.

Never.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you Jasper1863Hale, Maureen Thomas and Karen Ec for pre-reading, and Sue273 for betaing for me superfast tonight, it's very much appreciated.
> 
> This story was rec'ed by A JASPER FOR ME on her blog. Thank you so much! tinyurl.com/d3hx3er
> 
> I don't own Twilight. No copyright infringement intended. The environmental organization Save the Forest in this story, exists only in my mind.
> 
> In Peter's car they listen to 'Celestica' by Crystal Castles: www.youtube.com/watch?v=IsxNUl1IHnE

21 months later (Jasper is 17 years old):

.

Jasper doesn't even have a vague idea of how he and Bella ended up in this situation. They agreed to being a part of it months ago, after all, and this is a small chapter where every member needs to lend a hand with these kind of arrangements. Since then, they've learned that once you give Victoria your little finger, you're in for life—High School finals or not.

Arranging a summer camp while you finish your junior year finals doesn't really mix.

It's a relief when Jasper has finally finished the school year. But he's gotten so used to being late for everything, that he's pedaling for his life through the woods after his last day as a junior, trying to get home in time to eat before he has to go back to school again.

All work and no food makes Jasper a dull boy—or something like that.

That's what Bella tells him, anyway.

Forks Save the Forest Summer Camp. Yep, it's been a lot of work, but he can't wait to get the party started.

Parking his bike in the garage, and hanging his helmet on the handlebars, he notices Rosalie's car is back from Seattle for the summer already. Then he remembers her last finals ended a couple of days ago.

"When is Bella coming over?" Jasper's mom asks, from where she stands over by the sink, washing out pots and pans after making them an early dinner.

Jasper scrapes sauce from his plate, swallowing his dinner as fast as possible. "Really soon," he just gets to say, before the door bell rings and he jumps up to let Bella in.

"Have you remembered everything?" his mom calls after him, as he opens the front door and Bella stands there—with her hair all gone.

All that's left is a shaved, white round head. Her big brown eyes look even bigger with her hair gone. With her new looks, and a long white linen shirt over her slim, short frame, she looks almost sick, or like a prisoner to Jasper.

He grins at her. "Oh, my God, B, you did it! You really did it!"

He feels her head, as she squeezes in beside him to stand and watch herself in the hallway mirror, tilting her head from side to side, studying herself.

"Yeah, duh! I said I would, didn't I? Have I ever promised a thing and then not done it?"

Jasper can't keep his hands off her head, and he leans down to feel it with his chin, too. "This is so freaking cool!" he says, kissing her head, feeling the softness before it turns to stubble. He leans back to look at her face in the mirror.

They both startle as they hear a high scream from the hall.

"What have you done?"

Jasper groans. "Oh, fuck, Mom, you scared the crap out of us!"

Both Jasper and Bella hold their hands to their chest. His mom is over Bella in an instant, almost crying with the girl in her arms.

"Oh, no, baby, what's happened to you?" She uses her soothing 'mom-voice', holding Bella close to her chest.

Then Rosalie comes running down the stairs.

"Where's the fire? What's wrong?" She sees Bella in Mom's arms and shrieks, too. Jasper rolls his eyes and goes to pick up his sleeping bag and backpack, and lets Bella explain it to the hysterical women.

When he's back, Bella's explained everything, and instead of feeling sorry for her, they are now cross with her.

"Oh, for fuck's sake, will you leave her alone! You should think about what good you could have done with your own long hair if you donated it like she did!"

"Jasper!" Bella corrects him.

"Oh, shut it, B. I already have all the mothers I need."

Rolling her eyes, Bella continues what she was just saying to his mom and sister. "Anyway, this is very discriminating you know! If Jasper had done it, you wouldn't have said a word, I'm sure. Why should girls have to have long hair? It's just some stupid societal rule. Just like girls MUST shave their armpits, legs and pussies! I'm doing whatever I want with the hair on my body."

His mom sighs. "Oh, Bella. Sometimes I wish your mother lived here."

"Wow, Mom, that's a low one!" Jasper gasps.

"Yes, perhaps it was, sorry. I just feel so responsible for you sometimes, Bella. Please, have you at least shown yourself to your father?"

"Yes, of course I have. He just shrugged at it. A shaved head doesn't bother him. It was Peter who was most surprised, I think."

"Okay, I didn't mean to upset you, or say you shouldn't have done it."

Rosalie strokes her hand over Bella's head. "Yeah, I was so shocked when I saw you, but this is something I never could have done and I really admire you for it, B." Then she adds, smiling down at the shorter girl, "Besides, you have a very pretty shaped head."

"Hey, are we done here?" Jasper interrupts them. "We have someplace to be, remember?"

"Yes, of course," his mom says. "How are you getting there with all your things? Where's your stuff, Bella?"

"Peter's driving us there." As though Peter heard Bella saying his name, they hear a car horn honk outside.

"Oh, great. He's home too, already," Rosalie says, pulling on her Converse. "I'll come outside and say hi. It's been so long since I've seen him."

Jasper lifts his backpack easily, kissing his mother's chin as he passes her, and follows Rosalie and Bella out to Peter.

Knowing he'll see his first crush right outside doesn't bother him at all anymore. Peter and Jasper are good friends, and love each other as the two people closest in the world to Bella. Every time Peter's home visiting Bella and Charlie, they meet, and since he's living in Seattle like Rosalie and Emmett and goes to the University of Washington, it's quite a bit.

Jasper approaches the group hug on the lawn, drops his backpack down on the grass and jumps up to crush them with his arms. They all fall over laughing in a pile. Jasper luckily falls on his soft sleeping bag, but gets Peter's elbow in his ribs.

"Hey, man! You did that on purpose!"

"What?" Peter flutters his eyelids at him. "Oh, you mean—this?" and elbows him again.

"Ooh, you're so asking for it!"

Jasper jumps him and almost has the upper hand for a second, before he gets pinned down by Peter and the air leaves his lungs.

Peter holds Jasper's arms over his head.

"Fuck, man!"

Jasper squirms, trying to get away, his face turning red from laughter.

"Oh, here I was trying to punish you for not making sure Bella still had hair on her head, but I realize this is not the way to punish you." Peter sits up slowly, grinning down at Jasper, pushing his weight down on Jasper's crotch just to be evil. "I know you like this, Jas. Don't you?"

Jasper knows he's just messing with him.

"Fuck you, man. If you wanted my pole up your ass, you should have said something a long time ago." He pushes his hips up against Peter, but the older guy just laughs and jumps up, dragging Jasper with him by his hand.

"So, are you finished with your little show here? We have somewhere to be, you know!" Bella says dryly, studying her non-existent long nails.

Finally placing their things in the back of the car, Rosalie waves at them as Peter start steering them out on the road. Bella fumbles with his radio, settling on something relaxing.

"How's it going with the camp? Is everything ready for the big loony invasion?" Peter jokes.

"We've done our part, so now we're just excited. Aren't we, Jasper?" Bella asks, turning around in the passenger seat to look at him. He nods at her, grinning in excitement. They're going to meet with people from all over Washington State and learn so many useful things. He can't wait!

Outside school again, he opens the car trunk, picking up all the things, including Bella's. They put their backpacks on and walk past the stairs up to the school entrance, where they go up every school day, and behind the building over to the gymnasium by the forest. Outside the door is a wide banner with Froks Save the Forest Summer Camp. It's already skewed. Forks is spelled wrong, and it's really hard to read the last two words. The banner maker obviously had miscalculated the space.

Under it, stands a smiling James behind the registration table.

"Hey, James! How's the registrations going?" Bella asks as they come up to him.

"Hey, kids," he says, being his usual friendly self.

James and Victoria are a couple in their fifties, Jasper presumes, glued together but always arguing. Victoria, with her big flowing red hair, and James, with his long blond-gray hair in a ponytail, are some sort of old hippies, living close to nature in a cabin in the forest, and having a holistic belief. People could have laughed at them for being stereotypes, if it wasn't for their bright minds and kindness to all living things.

Almost two years ago, when they all started the Forks' chapter together, James and Victoria had been a great addition. They had experience from other environmental organizations and with Victoria as their leader, their member numbers grew quickly. She can be very persuasive and is very good at recruiting new members.

Knowing their school like the inside of their pockets, Jasper and Bella easily find the best place to put their belongings; their sleeping bags, mats and backpacks go in the corner furthest away from the door and bathrooms, where traffic will be at a minimum. They can use the sticks in the climbing wall to hang their towels and stuff over.

Besides themselves, there are only unfamiliar faces to see. Jasper takes a closer look around, seeing some younger, some older, but mostly his own age. Most of them look like they're a living flea market. He can't wait to meet all of them, having some of the same interests as him and Bella, and perhaps make some new friends.

"Come on," Bella says, dragging him over to a list hanging up beside the door.

All the day's programs are listed, including things like lectures on the history of non-violence, why they want to save the forest, control techniques and practical courses like using non-violence in demonstrations, making banners, empowerment workshop for females, and vegetarian cooking.

"There are so many things I want to do," Bella says, skimming it with her index finger. Have you decided on everything yet?"

Jasper hears Bella's voice beside him, but he can't focus on her words. Licking his bottom lip, his eyes follow the movement of a man passing him in a confident stride, and throwing his backpack against a wall. The man tosses his long, dark red-brown dreads over his shoulder, scanning the room quickly before heading for the door again. He waves briefly at a couple of people passing Jasper again on his way out, not giving him a glance.

"Eh," Jasper breathes, turning slowly to Bella with wide eyes.

Bella grins at him, her eyes sparkling. "Eh? That's your answer to my very important question?" Her grin never leaves her face.

"Sorry, important question?"

"Jas, I'm messing with you." She elbows him in his side. "Dread-head guy was scalding. Let's go find out who he is."

She drags him outside, and as they get out to James and the register stand again, they see dread-head guy reaching for another man with his open arms. They laugh at each other, as the other man throws his backpack down and runs to him, jumping up and kissing him heatedly.

Jasper gets a sinking feeling in his stomach at the sight. Trying to swallow it down, he turns away suddenly needing to escape to the place most comforting to him—the forest. He feels Bella's familiar arm around his waist as he starts walking towards the trees.

They walk together along the paths they often run when they have gym class. The green colors overwhelm Jasper and he finds his usual peace after seconds inside.

"There's no doubt in your heart you're gay anymore, is there?" Bella asks from behind him.

The path they walk on widens, and she takes his hand so they walk side by side. They come to the clearing they always hide out in to wait for gym class to finish. Tomorrow they'll use this open space for one of the courses.

Sitting down on their log, they position themselves in their usual way. Jasper lies down with his head in Bella's lap while she strokes his hair.

"No, I'm sure," he mumbles against the arms he's thrown over his face. She doesn't answer, just hums over him.

Later, when his arms are on his stomach instead, she asks in a low voice, "You know I love you no matter what, right?"

"Yeah, I know. I'm not worried at all about you, Mom, Rose or Emmett now. I'm not worried about anyone." He's very determined. "If anyone has a problem with my sexual orientation, then screw them. It's none of their business."

"That's right," Bella says. "It's not like I need anyone's permission to be straight, so why should you need it?"

Jasper sighs.

"Then what is it?"

"It's nothing."

She turns her head a little, looking at him for a second, cocking her eyebrow.

"It's stupid," he admits.

"You're embarrassed," she observes.

"Ah, hell. It's nothing, really. It's just, you know. I'm seventeen and I'm still a virgin!"

Bella hums. No laughter can be heard.

"In this stupid small town, how the hell will I ever find anyone? I'm going to die alone. I just know I will." Now he hears her chuckle. "Don't laugh at me!"

"No, I'm not laughing at you." He can hear her suppressed laugh now.

"Just say it," he demands.

"No, it's just, sometimes you are so confident and reflective. Why are you so desperate in this matter?"

"I am not desperate!" He gets up to look at her, needing her to understand him. He bends his knees in front of her to look at her face.

"I get it," she says softly now, stroking his black hair. "You're just a horny teenager."

Her eyes sparkle at him again as he pushes her hand away.

"I'd offer it if I didn't already know you'd say no."

"I'd say no. But thanks."

"Jas, you're only seventeen! There's plenty of seventeen-year-olds that haven't had sex."

He pulls a straw up from the ground. "No, not around here. You've even had sex!"

"What about this camp, then? Perhaps you'll meet someone here? Or it's only a year left until we move to Seattle."

"Yeah, you're right. Of course. But I feel so lonely sometimes. I don't know."

"Hey, we all feel lonely. It's normal! We're teenagers with hormones flowing all around."

"Yeah, and at least Ben and Angela haven't done it yet. No question about her wanting to wait until marriage to do it."

Bella grins at him. "What?" He looks confused at her.

She asks, "How do you know?"

"Hey, I'm sure he'd tell me if they had! And hasn't she said to you she wants to wait?"

"Yeah, but that was almost two years ago!"

"They haven't, I'm sure," Jasper says. "Besides, it doesn't matter. You're right. I'm going to get laid here, then we'll go to Seattle next year and we'll both get ourselves boyfriends!"

Laughter and the sound of someone running suddenly comes from the path, and they both stand up, hand in hand. The man previously hugged by dread-hair guy runs towards them, with dread-head chasing after him. He falls down as he turns to look behind him and dread head throws himself over him, pinning his hands over his head, grinning triumphantly down at him.

"There, I got you!" says the most sexy voice Jasper's ever heard. He might have whimpered a little there, because both men look up to see them staring.

"Hi!" Bella squeaks, "we were just going to..."

"Yeah," Jasper says, following her. They stagger to the path, not daring to look back before they reach the football field and run over to the gym.

"There will be others," Bella whispers to him, as they hold each other's hand, walking past the registration table where the banner has finally fallen down. Victoria's red hair flows around her face as she stands, giving her husband a piece of her mind.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you Jasper1863Hale and Karen Ec for pre-reading, and Sue273 for betaing for me.
> 
> I don't own Twilight. No copyright infringement intended. The environmental organization Save the Forest exists only in my mind.
> 
> Song: God is an Astronaut, Lost Kingdom: youtube.com/watch?v=EKHblp1BLz0

The afternoon turns into early evening at the Forks Save the Forest Summer Camp. New people arrive constantly, making the place inside and out buzz with activity, voices and laughter. There's an excitement in the air—something you can almost touch.

Two old oil barrels have been cut in half—making enough room for everyone to grill their food—out on the courtyard beside the football field. Jasper and Bella helped set up the logs around the grills earlier. Tonight people are supposed to bring their own food, but from tomorrow Rosalie, Emmett and Leah, Seth's older sister, and her boyfriend, Sam, will be in the Home Ec room, where there's enough room and equipment to make food for everybody. The campers all have kitchen duty, where they will have to help out making food.

Jasper and Bella go to grab their food from their backpacks inside, when Ben jumps on Jasper's back.

"Hey, guys, you're finally here!" Bella says happily.

"Yeah, what did you think?" Angela holds one arm around Bella's waist, stroking her free hand over her friend's shaved head. "Didn't you think we'd show up? I mean, this is the main event in Forks, or should I say Froks, all summer!"

They all laugh. "I guess James really could use that banner-making class, huh?"

Ben says, "This is major for all of Washington Save the Forest, not only Forks. How long has it been since the last time it held a summer camp?"

"Too long," a dark voice says behind Jasper.

They all turn around and there stands dread-head guy in all his glory. He's got leaves in his hair and a grass smudge on his chin. Jasper thinks there might be a hickey on his neck, too. He wonders if he should mention it to the guy, when Bella elbows him in the ribs.

He turns to her, mouthing, "Ouch! What?"

She shakes her head at him as though telling him not to say anything.

Dread-head guy holds out his hand to Ben. "Hi, I'm Edward," he says. "I'm the leader of Washington Save the Forest."

"You are?" Jasper asks surprised. "I thought it was Jacob?"

"No," Edward laughs, "Jacob's never been leader. You met him when he started your chapter, right?"

"Yes, we did," Bella says. "He was the one to hold the first meeting here before we took over. He was our contact for all our questions in the beginning. I've talked to him on the phone a few times."

"Yes, he's responsible for starting and helping out the different chapters when there is something."

"Oh, we thought he was the leader."

"No, I am," Edward tells them again. "I was there at your first meeting."

Jasper stares at him.

"Oh, you're black hoodie-guy!" Bella says.

Edward laughs. "I might have been. I'm not sure I remember what I wore, to be honest. It's a couple of years ago, right?"

Bella nods.

"You sure have a good memory!" Edward praises her.

"No, I haven't," Bella grins at him. "But Jasper has!" She turns around and winks—winks at Jasper.

What the hell! He glares angrily at her.

Edward turns to him then, holding out his hand. "You're Jasper?"

"Yeah, I am." Edward's hand feels warm and callused.

"You're the one helping me out tomorrow, right?"

"Yeah, I guess so," Jasper says, his voice low. He's really nervous now that he knows Edward is the person he'll be assisting.

"No need to be shy, Jasper. I promise you, I know all we need to know. I've been up a tree before, so to speak." Edward grins at him and Jasper doesn't know where to look. "I'll just need you to do what I say."

"Oh, he'll be very helpful to you. I can promise you," Bella says wickedly.

It's only a second before she gets Jasper's foot in her leg. She sure is going to hear it later!

Not paying Jasper any attention, Bella asks Edward, "So, what do you do besides leading the Washington group?"

Jasper looks around to see they're now almost alone inside the gym. Ben and Angela are nowhere to be seen.

"Hey, maybe we should go outside and eat?" Edward asks, noticing Jasper looking around.

"Oh, sorry, I didn't mean to hold you up," Bella excuses herself.

"No, that's fine," Edward smiles reassuringly, touching her arm as he passes to find his food from his backpack. "We can talk later. There's plenty of time to socialize. I've gone over the timetable you've made and approved it. No worries."

Jasper feels Bella's hand in his as she pulls him outside after Edward. He can't help but look at his ass as they walk behind him.

He feels her pinch him. "Hey!"

She gives him a scolding look.

Outside, they find Ben and Angela already preparing their food and sharing the same carton with two spoons.

"What did you bring, Jasper?" Bella asks.

They go to fix their food, and all around them people are talking and laughing. They find a log to sit on and eat, talking to the ones they know. Many of the unfamiliar people seem to know each other already. Jasper doesn't feel left out, but looks forward to the chance of getting to know some of them.

It's later, becoming night, when the air turns foggy and Jasper hears a rhythmic beat—someone's playing a drum or something. Some of those people he doesn't know run over the football field. Jasper sits and watches them as he hears Bella talking to Angela. He feels comfortable and sinks down on the asphalt with his back leaning against the log.

Suddenly, Bella's pulling at his hand, trying to get him up. He must have dozed off for a second—after all the work the last few days, he's really tired.

"Come on!" Bella says. "Let's go over to see what they're doing!"

Jasper gets up.

"If we want to meet new people and make friends, we can't just sit here and wait, you know. Let's go meet them!"

Bella and Jasper walk over to the large group of people out on the dark field, where they sit in a circle around a drum player. Some are dancing, or moving around at least, and others just sit around.

Bella sinks down on the moist grass and Jasper sits down behind her with his arms around her waist, listening to the drummer. It's kind of hypnotic here in the night; the air is dark and moist, his belly is full, and a big group of other humans are around them, all feeling the same rhythm in their guts.

Bella starts swaying her head and lets it fall back on Jasper's shoulder.

"I saw Seth here," she says lowly.

"Yeah, you knew he was coming, right?" Jasper whispers back.

"Mhm, I wasn't sure he would."

"What is he doing after the summer, do you know?" Jasper wonders.

"He's going to Washington, too. Did I ever tell you he's Jacob's cousin?"

"No, is he? I never knew."

"Yeah, that's why he came to the first meeting, he told me, then he continued because he was interested in me." Jasper strokes her arms. "Now he doesn't really have a good reason to be active anymore, I guess, so I was a little surprised to see him here."

"But you're still friends, right? He hasn't said anything different lately?"

Bella sighs. "No, we're okay. I'm not sure how it would be if he got another girlfriend, I mean, like here or something. That would be weird, right?"

"Yes, perhaps it would," Jasper agrees, kissing her head.

"I wonder if his cousin will come here? What do you think?"

"You mean Jacob, right?"

"Yeah," she breathes. "Did I ever tell you I kind of played with Jacob when I was little? The summer when Peter and I came here once?"

"No, I didn't know you knew him."

"I don't know him, really. Our dads used to go fishing together before his dad got sick and ended up in a wheelchair. It was a long time ago. We just met once. I had this huge girly crush on him for a long time after meeting him, I remember. And even then he mostly hung out with Peter on the beach in La Push that day. He doesn't remember me, I'm positive."

"How do you know? You must have been so cute when you were little!" Jasper smiles.

"You mean, I'm not still cute?" She turns to look at him, wrinkling her nose.

He smiles warmly at her. "Yeah, you're still cute in a girly way. No, I meant with your long brown hair in pig tails and your big brown eyes. How could he resist you?"

"You dork! I was like six years old and missing my two front teeth! He was even older than Peter, so that made him nine or something!"

"Well, you'll get your chance at this summer camp, Bella," Jasper whispers in her ear. "Because there he is." He nods his head towards the right and Bella turns her face in the same direction.

"Yeah, he's here," she whispers.

"Why didn't you say that you liked him when we first met him?" he asks her accusingly.

"Nah, it's not like that," she says, then explains, "He's interesting to me, or something. Besides, I'd never do anything with him now if I got the chance. I mean, didn't we just discuss that Seth and I broke up and I wouldn't like seeing him get a new girlfriend right away? Perhaps he'd feel the same?" She turns around in his arms to look at Jasper, confirming he agrees with her.

"Yeah, you're right."

"So maybe Jacob could be my guy in Washington?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, you remember we told each other we'll get you laid here at this summer camp, just so you've done it since you're so full of hormones, and we'll find boyfriends when we move to Seattle next year?"

"You're looking to get laid, huh?" An unfamiliar guy leans into Jasper. He's got a cute face, but his hair is completely wild, making him look like a true nature's child even though he looks to be Jasper and Bella's age.

He sits down with a girl next to him, with short black hair in spikes. She grins widely at Jasper and Bella.

"Well? Are you?" he asks again, leaning even closer.

"Uhm," Jasper strains. "Not really."

"Oh, yes, I'm sure you are," says the girl beside the boy. "You're just too shy." She bounces a little where she sits, like she'd really like to get up and move around to the drums.

"So, are you gay or straight?" the boy asks.

Bella looks back at Jasper, her face a little concerned. Then she turns around and says to the guy, "He's gay. But I don't think he wants to have sex with you."

"What? Am I not attractive to you?"

"Umh, I'm sorry, I'm sure you are, but, yeah,..." Jasper trails off—the guy is too forward for him.

The girl holds out her hand to Bella, "Hey, pretty, I'm Alice. Are you a lesbian? I am; I only like to have sex with girls. Does that bother you?"

Bella looks like she doesn't know what to think about this girl. "I'm Bella," she answers slowly. "No, my best friend is gay. Why would it bother me that you're lesbian? That would be weird."

Jasper tells her, "It would have been weird to be bothered by that.. Why should your sexual preference matter to anyone?"

"Hey, I'm just making sure. If it bothered you, I'd just find someone else to get to know. I don't have the energy to deal with prejudiced people." Alice smiles hugely. "So, it's settled then, we'll get to know you here in Froks, or is it Forks?" She turns to the guy with the wild hair. "It's Forks, right?"

"Yes, it's Forks," Jasper answers them, smiling. "Sorry about the banner. We'll make sure James goes to the banner course!"

"Oh, that's great!" Alice says. "I'm the banner teacher, so I hope lots of people come. I hope you'll come, too! I promise we'll have so much fun."

"I'm Riley," the nature's child says, right beside him—he's moved closer without Jasper noticing. Holding out his hand for Jasper to shake, Riley pulls him in for a hug instead when he takes it. "You're cute," he whispers in Jasper's ear.

Gulping, Jasper fidgets. He doesn't know how to behave or what to say. He knows he told Bella he wanted to get laid, and he really wants to, but he's never even kissed a guy before and absolutely not flirted, or had someone interested in him that he could be interested in going anywhere with.

He's nervous, he realizes.

The guy smiles at him. "Aren't you going to tell me your name?"

"Uh, yes, sorry, I'm Jasper."

"Hi, Jasper. Do you want to go for a walk?"

Jasper sees Bella leaning forward talking to Alice. There's no help to be had there.

"I'm not sure," he answers. "I don't know you."

"Okay, we'll just hang out here tonight then. Where do you sleep?"

Jasper opens his mouth to answer. "The gym, of course," Riley says. "I guess everyone sleeps there."

"There are a couple of smaller rooms, but yes, I think everyone sleeps in the gym," Jasper tells him.

"So where are you from, Jasper?"

Riley sits with his knees up, leaning against them with his elbows. Then he takes Jasper's hand in his and starts stroking it, looking down at it.

"I'm from here, from Forks."

"Oh yes," Riley says. "I kind of already understood that. I'm from Port Angeles myself. Alice and I are from there." He looks right in Jasper's eyes. "It's only a one hour ride, you know."

"Yes, I know. I've lived here all my life and I'm familiar with the distances."

Riley's fingers stroke over Jasper's hand to the drum's rhythm.

"You're so cute," Riley says again, lifting his hand to feel Jasper's hair. He's very familiar with Bella's touchy-feely ways, but it's a little uncomfortable with Riley whom he doesn't know, and that he knows wants to have sex with him.

"And you have really soft hair," Riley mumbles and leans into Jasper's face. He jerks backwards, thinking Riley wants to kiss him.

Riley only smiles at him. "I was only going to smell it—your hair," he explains when Jasper doesn't understand.

"Oh, okay, you can smell it," he says, leaning towards Riley who takes a deep sniff and Jasper leans back, feeling a little weird about this.

Then he hears laughter. "You should have seen your face, Jasper!" Alice says. Bella smiles at him, too.

"What?"

"It's just that Alice and I have a pact going," Riley tries to explain.

"It's not a pact, Riley."

"Well, I call it that to my mother at least, or else she would have used force on me by now."

Alice tells them, "He refuses to wash his hair. He's going to see if it's possible to live without using shampoo for a year."

"Ugh, that's disgusting," Bella utters.

Riley scolds her, "Hey! I'm not disgusting!"

"No, you are not, but your hair is!"

"Then let me tell you what your shampoo really contains, and we'll see about disgusting!"

Bella smiles at Jasper and turns to tell Riley, "It's a good thing I shaved my head, then. I won't have to use shampoo until I've forgotten about your speech!"


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you Jasper1863Hale, Maureen Thomas and Karen Ec for pre-reading, and Sue273 for betaing for me. Thank you 35nanou and BregoMellonNin for being a constantly support, and my faithful readers that keeps sending me these wonderful reviews. Much love!
> 
> I don't own Twilight. No copyright infringement intended. The environmental organization Save the Forest, exists only in my mind.
> 
> Song: 'White Noise' by Mogwai: youtube.com/watch?v=-ovFDMCPoHQ
> 
> Pic of how I envision Edward:
> 
> [](http://s1354.beta.photobucket.com/user/Dragontattoo75/media/EdwardinWYSS.jpg.html)

Jasper wakes up slowly to a sore back and a hurting neck after laying at an awkward angle on his hoodie all night. He'd completely forgotten to bring a pillow, his mat was too thin, and the floor hard. In addition, people didn't quiet down until after two o'clock, and they were woken at seven-thirty by a bell ringing for them to get an early start.

Groaning, he stretches his long limbs to work out some of the stiffness in his back as he falls over to the side, opens his eyes, and looks straight into Bella's big, brown ones.

"Hi," she whispers. "Did you get any sleep at all?" She tucks her hand under her soft-looking pillow.

Jasper snuggles closer to her, trying to get a little piece of the softness under his own chin. Bella willingly shares her pillow with him.

"I slept for a few of hours. How about you?"

Sighing, she mumbles, "I have trouble sleeping when people are whispering around me. I should have brought ear plugs. Could you text Rose to bring some for me when she comes over?"

Jasper turns to find his phone, sending a quick text to Rose, asking for ear plugs and a pillow. Turning around again to make the most of his snuggling-pillow time, he asks, "People were talking all night? I didn't hear it after it quieted down around two."

Bella jerks her head backwards. "It was them," she whispers.

Jasper lifts his head to see who she's referring to, seeing Edward's boyfriend lying on his stomach snoring. There's definitely some drool on the hand he's tucked under his mouth.

"Did they have sex?" he whispers to Bella, eyebrows raised in shock, his mind unwillingly flooding with images of Edward having sex.

Her eyebrows shoot up, too. "God, I hope not! Have sex in a gym full of people? No, they were whispering all night. I tried not to listen in, but it sounded like it's been a long time since they saw each other and had a lot of catching up to do."

Jasper's stomach growls. "Okay, I'm taking a shower before we eat." He turns around to see Edward rising up beside his sleeping boyfriend, wearing a t-shirt and sleeping pants and grabbing his towel. Jasper lies down again.

"Or not. I'm going to be out in the forest all morning. Better to shower after I come back."

Bella grins at him, mouthing, "I dare you!"

Jasper shake his head. "Bella! He's got a boyfriend!" he mouths back.

"So?" Bella whispers. "You could have a look! Do it for me?" She waggles her eyebrows.

Jasper holds up his hand to make her stop, his palm towards Bella, and shakes his head again. Breakfast is calling him and he wants to have a look at the timetable again; he's not completely decided on what to do yet—there are so many intriguing possibilities.

After breakfast and a quick discussion of the timetable with Bella—who wants to go to the first empowerment workshop this morning—Jasper feels a tap on his shoulder. Edward's standing there, weathered military shorts and army boots his only clothing. His long dreads fall down over his bare chest.

"Hi," Jasper manages in a high tone, fiddling with his nose ring, staring hard at Edward's eyes and not at the bare skin that's so tempting to him. His stomach is full of butterflies thinking about spending all morning with this man.

Edward smiles at him. "I know there's still one hour left before the course begins, but I thought we could head out now and get things set up? I was supposed to do it yesterday, but I didn't get a chance."

Bella grins at him. "Oh, we noticed," she says, emphasizing the 'o' in noticed.

Edward looks confused at her for a second. "Oh, that was the two of you in the clearing yesterday with me and my boyfriend? I'm really sorry about that. It wasn't my intention to let you kids see us."

Jasper becomes a little sad at Edward thinking of him as a kid, but the other man is older than them, so he guesses it's to be expected. "What do you want me to do?"

"You really want to help me set it up?" Edward asks, smiling at him and Jasper feels his mouth dry up. He nods.

"Great!" Edward says. "I'll tell you what we'll do during the course at the same time, since you were a little nervous about helping me with it last night."

"Okay," Jasper says, finding his voice, and gets up. Leaving Bella sitting at the log grinning at him, he follows Edward onto the forest trail, feeling the usual calm filling him like a wave from the ocean as he enters.

They stop in the clearing, Edward looking up into the high treetops. "How much experience do you have?"

"I'm sorry," Jasper says. "I've never done this before for real. I've only read about it. Perhaps you want to find someone else to help you out? I can go ask around if you want?"

Edward places his hand on the boy's shoulder to stop his rambling. "Jasper, relax! I told you yesterday I know all about this, and you're just here to do what I tell you." Jasper takes a deep breath and lets it out shakily. "All right?"

"Yeah, I'll help you."

.

One hour later, they hear voices and laughter coming towards them on the path, and eventually the clearing is filled with ten to fifteen people. Not too many for Edward to handle. Jasper sits down alongside them, very interested and ready to listen to what Edward has to say.

"Hello all," he starts, looking over the group. He's a tall man, with long, dark dreads flowing over his back and a chin covered in scruff, and his sparkling green eyes blend easily into the colors of the forest. "I'm Edward. Some of you I know, some I've met, and some of your faces are new. This makes me very happy to confirm with my own eyes; Save the Forest is capable of keeping members as well as recruiting new ones."

He holds a thick rope in his hands, sliding it around and making knots as he speaks. "I live in Seattle where I lead our group from the mother chapter, as we call it. I'm twenty-one years old and when I'm not at our office, attending meetings, or studying at the University of Washington, I'm out doing what I love the most; being in the forest and doing everything in my power to save it."

Some people clap their hands. One guy calls, "Show off!" and most laugh at him, even Edward.

"This means sadly, of course, that I have very little time to do anything else in my life," he adds a little quieter, then smiles and nods at Jasper. "Today, I have Jasper here with me from this excellent Forks' chapter, that's still a baby among Save the Forest, but no less important." He smiles and waves at Jasper to rise up.

"Ideally, you all should have already taken my class about civil obedience before this one, but to get the timetable to work, it was not possible this time. Make sure you attend one before the end of the camp, especially those of you who haven't been to one before. You'll need to be as prepared as possible for the day it's showtime for you."

He claps Jasper on his shoulder. "So, today you'll learn about one way of protesting. If you want to prevent trees from being cut down by a company, this can be a very useful way." He gestures to the trees.

"We'll go over the practical stuff today, like how to prepare yourself if it's winter, how to tie your knots, make the loops you need and to get up into the trees and sit there comfortably enough. You must be prepared to sit up there all day, because if you sit high up in a tree inside a forest, it's very difficult and time consuming for the police to get you down. We will not go over making platforms at this camp to protest over a longer period—that's a different matter."

He turns to Jasper. "Now, if you all come here standing in a circle around Jasper and myself, I'll show you a little trick I learned once when I tried to stop a road from being built." He waves people towards him. "Come closer people, I don't bite!" He winks at Jasper. "Not hard anyway."

.

There is nothing else Jasper would want than to be around Edward, who's half naked, sweating and glowing here in his element. Helping out all morning makes Jasper flustered and probably not the most alert and attentive helper Edward could have of all the participants at the campsite. Still, he finds himself at ease eventually and completely comfortable being close to Edward, and before he knows it, the class has come to an end.

He finds himself in desperate need of a thorough shower, covered in resin as he is. So after Edward thanks him warmly for helping him out, he leaves the forest with a smile on his face, thinking he made a good deal when he offered to help Edward.

He's all alone in the huge boys' shower, scrubbing himself from all the tree moss and greenery. He's just started soaping up his junk when he hears footsteps on the tiles. Turning around to greet the other guy, holding his cock in his hand, he squeezes himself involuntarily hard when he sees it's Edward naked under the water spray opposite him.

"Today was a big success, don't you think?" Edward asks conversationally, as he soaps up his armpits and the water flows over his form.

Closing his mouth in a hurry, Jasper turns around facing the spray to get rid of the soap as fast as possible, his heart thundering in his chest. He must not stare at Edward's dick, he must not look, he repeats to himself. And for the love of God, he must stop right away with the scrubbing of his own cock, or else he'll have to make a very awkward dance with his back to Edward on his way out of the shower.

"You all right there, Jasper?" Edward calls to him, and he has to turn around; standing with his back to him would be socially awkward. He turns slowly, making sure he keeps his eyes trained on Edward's upper parts.

"Uh-huh," he mumbles.

He's not sure, but he thinks he sees Edward's eyes flicking over his form for a second, but it could be the sunlight from the window playing a trick. Jasper swallows hard.

"You've... uhm, you've done this many times, then? Protesting and sitting up in trees and such?" It's obvious that Edward has. Jasper just needs something, anything, to talk about to keep his thoughts from the fact that he's alone—with Edward—in a shower! Where there is water! Naked bodies! Naked Edward's body!

"Oh, yes," Edward tells him happily, clearly having his mind on fond memories. "I've traveled around a lot, but lately I've kept myself to Washington State mainly, since I've got so much going on right now."

"Yes, I got that."

"So, how about you? How old are you?"

"I'm seventeen. I'll be a senior in the fall. As you know, I was one of the founders of Forks Save the Forest. It was actually kind of a coincidence that I got involved, but the forest has been very important to me all my life, so I guess I'd have done something like this eventually even if Bella and I hadn't found the ad to the first meeting."

"Mhm, I know what you mean about the forest," Edward says thoughtfully, turning the faucet off and grabbing his towel from the hook. Jasper hurries to do the same, feeling some relief when Edward's lower body is covered, and some sadness too, knowing this would be the only time he got the chance to have a look.

They dress themselves alongside each other. Jasper hurries to pull up his pants, and when Edward moves to exit, he mumbles something about needing the bathroom. Jasper leans his back against the closed door. Sighing deeply, his hand finds its way inside his pants the second he's alone, fondling his half-hard cock to full hardness within a minute. He rips the button on his shorts open, pulls the zipper down, and strokes himself in hard, fast jerks. His free hand scrambles against the wall, trying to hold himself up on his weak knees.

"He's got a boyfriend, he's got a boyfriend," he chants to himself, but as he sprays the wall in front of him white, it's Edward's wet, glistening body he sees in his mind—unattainable yet perfect to him.

After what feels like an eternity, Jasper finds himself sitting on the lid of the toilet, his conscience dark for a second before he soothes and reminds himself he's just a horny teenager. Finding a man completely attractive and perfect for the first time in his life, of course, he's going to fantasize about him. There's nothing wrong with that. It's all in his head anyway. He hasn't done anything wrong—it's nothing to feel shameful about. No one has to know his private fantasies about what could have happened in the shower if Edward didn't have a boyfriend and thought of Jasper as an equal, a man. What if Edward had wanted him in return? They could have locked the door to the shower, and he could have got on his knees in front of Edward and licked the water off him, tasted him. Maybe Edward even wanted to be inside of him, fucking him pressed against the wet tiles.

Oh no, he must stop thinking about it before he gets hard again—hello, seventeen-year-old hormones. Edward's a really nice guy and could be a great friend. Jasper respects the man's feelings and his love for his boyfriend.

Like Bella said, there will be others. This is just a small crush, inconsequential in the long run.

He stops with his musings, pulls up his pants, and washes his hands. It's time for lunch and he finds himself hungry when he looks at the clock.

Jasper opens the door, walks out into the hallway and is about to pass a door only a crack open, when he hears sounds from inside, like someone needs help in there. He takes a step closer to help, but freezes when he hears it's a moan, a groan, and then, "Ah, Edward!"

He's completely frozen to the spot, incapable of moving away like he knows he should. Leaning a few centimeters closer, peeking inside the small room—the janitors office—he finds Edward's boyfriend leaning over the table, his jeans around his legs, and Edward pounding into him from behind. Sweat is running down Edward's bare back and his ass cheeks are clenching with every hard thrust.

Jasper's hard in a second. He can't move away, too mesmerized by the sight, and then Edward comes, roaring into his boyfriend, falling over him and breathing for two seconds before he pulls out and fasten his shorts. "Fuck, I needed that," he tells his lover, slapping his ass. His boyfriend straightens up, turning around with a Cheshire cat's smile on his face.

"Not that I'm complaining or anything, but what brought this on? I've never seen you in such a rush to get off before?"

Jasper knows he's made a noise the second Edward and his boyfriend freeze and turn to the door. They see him standing there, his pants pitching a tent, his face hot with arousal and embarrassment.

"Sorry!" he manages to squeak when he hears Edward groaning, "Fuck!", before he runs away. He sprints into the forest, where he feels safe and at home. He runs the opposite trail from the clearing, finally sinking down against a log, breathing like he's never going to calm down, ever.

The look on Edward's face when he saw his prying; shock, bewilderment, and even sadness. Jasper's never going to be able to face the man again.

He jumps when there's suddenly a hand on his shoulder and a soft brush against his ear as a voice breathes, "What's the rush, Jasper? Still looking to get laid?"


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you Jasper1863Hale and Karen Ec for pre-reading, and Sue273 for betaing for me. Thank you 35nanou and BregoMellonNin for your support.
> 
> Song: Crystal Castles, Affection: youtube.com/watch?v=JCVPB6eMN4I

"Ah, what the hell?" Jasper yells, turning to the voice abruptly.

Riley grins beside him. "Did I startle you? I saw you running into the woods and it looked like you were in desperate need for some alone time, you know?" He waggles his eyebrows.

That's just stupid. "What about the term 'alonetime' don't you understand?" Jasper asks him angrily. The alone part is what he really needs, time away from others—one in particular—to sort out his thoughts. Like, what did Edward's expression mean?

Riley frowns. "Okay, I'll get off your back if that's what you really want. But if you could use a hand—you know—I'm willing, is all I'm saying."

Jasper's sudden anger deflates. "No, I'm sorry; I got angry. I didn't intend to be mean to you. It's just, you're not really my type?" He says it like a question to take the edge off.

"Then what's your type? Could it be tall, green eyes, and long dreads?"

Jasper panics; is he that easy to read? "What? No! Edward has a boyfriend!"

"Oh, Edward? I didn't say any names!" Riley says, still in his face. "And isn't a hand only a hand after all?"

Jasper gulps as Riley sees him wavering, and leans closer, brushing his hand over Jasper's pants and up to where there's still semihardess to be found.

The feeling of another hand close to his dick, an unwelcome hand, causes Jasper to panic and slap it away. "Hey!"

"Okay," Riley says, backing away slowly before turning around to leave with the parting words, "I'll be here the whole camp if you change your mind."

Finally alone, Jasper groans into his hands after adjusting his dick. He will not wank to the image of Edward pounding his boyfriend—he will not do it! His traitorous dick does not agree with him, so he gets up and goes for a quick walk instead; getting his blood pumping is the best way to clear his head.

He eventually ends up on the football field, feeling much calmer about his situation. Avoiding Edward is out of the question. With all his experience, he's like a goldmine to Jasper. From now on he's focusing on what he's here for and not trivial things like guys.

Determinedly, he walks into the gym to locate Bella and finds her eating together with Alice.

Seeing his face, Bella's laughter stills. "What's wrong?" she asks immediately, getting up and hugging him briefly.

He whispers in her ear, "Later."

She glances at him and nods, sitting down beside Alice again as he gets himself some food and joins them, listening to their excited discussion on the empowerment workshop. They seem to have bonded over it.

In the afternoon, Jasper is leading a workshop himself—a vegetarian cooking class—and it's late when he's finally finished with it. He's never held a class before and after his students had eaten what they'd made, they'd all ended up having a long discussion on the benefits of vegetarian living on the environment.

He's full of an excitement that's making him almost high as he exits the Home Ec room. It's so good to be among others, sharing ideas and thoughts without always having to defend himself and answer thousands of questions about what he eats and why—what's wrong with you?

People are everywhere, and the area buzzes with energy and laughter. Jasper's class must have been one of the last to end.

Instead of seeking out Bella to finally tell her about his experience of watching Edward and his boyfriend earlier, like he'd normally do, he doesn't want to not tell her anything, at least not here. He's got other things on his mind besides being a lovesick little kid, and he's got ideals, damn it. He wants knowledge and new friends.

Jasper takes a long walk around, only people watching for a while, stopping to talk to those he knows and just observing the rest. Outside, some are sitting around and eating, but he's full from his class and doesn't get tempted. He finds Ben sitting on a log alone, stuffing his face, and sits down beside him.

"Hey, man," Ben says through a mouthful of fried rice.

"Hey," Jasper answers, scanning the crowds for no one in particular. "How was your day?"

"It was fantastic!" Ben grins happily.

Jasper glances around. "What did you do?"

"First, I went to the empowerment workshop and then..."

That gets Jasper's full attention. "What? You were at the empowerment workshop?"

"Yeah! So?"

"I just thought it was for females—you know, the weaker sex." Jasper makes quotes in the air with his fingers to show he doesn't mean it himself.

Ben shrugs. "Nah, it's for everyone, and it was great! We learned about things like control techniques and it was so interesting. Then I was at the non-violence class. I can't wait for the practical course tomorrow where we'll learn how to sit all day up in a tree, man! How fun is that?" Ben picks up a corn on the cob and starts chewing at it.

Jasper looks around once again, scanning the crowds. "Yeah, I went to it this morning. Tomorrow, I'll learn more about the thoughts behind it. It was Edward's class, wasn't it?" As if he doesn't already know that.

"Yes, and he's so enigmatic and experienced even though he's only twenty-one years old."

Jasper looks down. "Yeah, I've noticed. It's like he's too good to be true."

"No, I don't know about that. No one is perfect," Ben says.

"Of course," Jasper mumbles, then changes the subject. "So, Ben, Bella tells me you and Angie finally had sex." Ben looks stunned, and Jasper continues accusingly, "I thought she wanted to wait until you're married. That's what you told me."

"Jasper, that was two years ago!"

"So, you've had sex?"

Ben nods at him.

"Why haven't you told me?" Jasper elbows his friend.

"Well, I didn't think Angie wanted others to know. It's none of other people's business."

"No, of course," Jasper says.

Ben smiles at him, and whispers, "So, she told Bella, huh? Did she say how we do it?"

Jasper wrinkles his eyebrows. "No? How you do it? There's the key in the keyhole, right? No other way."

Ben grins at him. "No other way? I'd thought you as a gay man would get it?"

"I don't understand. What would I get?"

"All right, since she's told Bella, I'll tell you, but it has to stay between us. Okay?"

"Yes, of course!"

"She still wants to do as her father says, to stay a virgin until her wedding night, right? But we have needs like anyone else and we know we're going to get married eventually, there is no question about it."

"Yeah, so?" Ben has Jasper's full attention, even with the corn pieces between his teeth.

"Yeah, so there is a way to keep your hymen until you're married, and still get satisfied. Dude. It's amazing! I totally get the gay sex part now!"

Then it finally clicks in Jasper's brain. "What?" he says. "You fuck her in the ass?"

"Shh," Ben scolds him. Then nods and smiles. "Yeah! It's not like it's not pleasurable for females! I don't believe in having to wait until marriage to have sex. It was a rule before birth control was invented, now it's no point at all. Even if I believe in God, I see no point in waiting when you have found the one. And Angie's fine with it this way—she's great with it, actually."

Stunned, Jasper sits and stares at Ben. "I don't get it. Why she thinks it's the hymen that's important to spare?"

Ben shrugs. "Me neither. But as long as we're both happy, I'm completely okay with it."

Now Jasper is truly the only seventeen-year-old virgin in Forks. Even Ben does it. To his girlfriend, with an intact hymen.

Jasper gets up in a haze, stumbling over to the football field. He passes Edward and his boyfriend on his way, and Edward calls after him, "Jasper, I need to talk to you for a minute. Please, wait!" But Jasper doesn't want Edward's company.

He walks into the forest on the first trail he finds, ending up in the clearing where he sags down on the forest floor. He sits there for a while, feeling lonely and like it's never going to change, but most of all, he feels really stupid for putting so much into this.

Then Riley sits down next to him again, close against his side.

For a couple of minutes, Riley keeps still before he asks, "So, you always go into the forest when something's up?"

"Yeah, pretty much," Jasper mumbles.

Riley puts his arm around his shoulder. "So, what's up this time, cutey? Can I help you? In any way?"

Jasper wrings his hands in his lap. Then nods determinedly and turns to Riley. "Yeah, perhaps you could."

The blond's eyes flick to Jasper's lips as he speaks and he notices Riley wetting his lips. He looks like he wants to kiss Jasper. Should he let him?

Riley leans forward. "I immediately wanted you when I saw you." He strokes his hand over Jasper's hair. "Your hair is so soft and it smelled so good yesterday. I had to go to the bathroom for some alone-time after. Did you know that?"

"No." Jasper gulps. Riley stroked himself to orgasm thinking of him—thinking of Jasper.

"Yeah, I think you're hot. You're gorgeous." Riley's breath is on Jasper's face, then he's kissing him. Wet lips pressing onto his own, like tickles on his sensitive skin. Then the lips are gone. Jasper opens his eyes, frowning.

"Oh, you want more?" Riley smiles at him.

"Yeah," Jasper breathes.

"What do you want?"

"Kiss me."

Then they're kissing—for real. His first kiss and first tongue in his mouth. It's so wet and warm, teeth and the feeling of another person's skin on his own face, Riley's nose sliding against his own. Jasper gets his first kiss and it's good, so good, that when Riley's hand is at the back of his head, fingers folded into his hair and he gets pressed as close as possible, he likes it. It's great, actually.

Riley's other hand slides down Jasper's arm and over his thigh, kneading it and it sets Jasper's breath up ten notches. Riley takes charge and kisses along his neck. Jasper's body is tingling all over now, filling him with this need. Something he felt earlier today, something two people having sex made him feel. His head spins and then Riley's hand is there—over his clothing, touching his hard dick and Jasper gasps.

Riley turns his face away from Jasper's neck, asking, "What do you need?"

"I... I..." Jasper can't say it. He can't tell Riley what he wants.

"Do you want to come?"

"Yeah..."

"My hand?"

"Ugh!"

"My mouth?"

Jasper groans at the thought.

"My hole?" Riley stares at him. "Do you want to fuck me?"

"Oh, God!" Jasper almost comes from the idea.

"Or," Riley pauses, "Can I fuck you?" His hand pushes its way into Jasper's pants, finding him hard and wanting. Jasper bucks his hips into Riley's hand.

"Fuck, Jasper, you're so hot. Can I fuck you? See, I have everything we need right here." He holds up both a condom and lube. "I just want to make you feel good. Please, I'll be so gentle."

Jasper fucks his cock into Riley's hand. "Please, Jasper will you let me?"

Jasper's head is spinning. He wants to come, he wants to fuck. He's the only one who hasn't done it—he does not want to die an old virgin.

Here is his chance, probably his only chance to do it. At least until he gets to Seattle, and that's a year from now—a lifetime.

He opens his pants and Riley rips off his own in a hurry. Then he pulls down Jasper's underwear, sliding them down as Jasper's hard dick slaps against his stomach. "Fuck, Jasper, you're so hard." Riley's hand is on him, stroking fast.

Then Riley pulls down his own underwear and Jasper sees his hard cock right in front of him, ready to penetrate him when he says the word. But he can't do it. It feels all wrong. This is not the right person.

"No," he says, taking Riley's hand when he gets ready to pop the lube. "No, I don't want to fuck."

Riley stares at him incredulously. "What? I know you want to."

"Yes, I want to, but it doesn't feel right."

"You don't love me, so what? We don't have to have all these fuzzy feelings about each other to have sex. It's just sex! We get off. Help each other out."

"Then, can't we get off by using our hands or mouths instead? "

Riley stares at him.

"Please," Jasper begs. "I've never had a blowjob. Or given one. Can't we do that?"

Riley hesitates.

"Can't you show me?" Jasper tries.

Riley throws the condom and lube away. "All right." He breathes and sinks down to where Jasper's cock stands proud and waiting.

He licks his lips, making Jasper feel warm wetness almost like the kiss engulfing his sensitive skin, and it's the best thing he's ever felt. He comes so quickly, Riley almost gets it in his eye when he draws back to look at Jasper's face to see how he's doing.

"Fuck, I'm sorry!" Jasper scrambles to find something to clean Riley's face with.

But Riley only laughs and licks his lips. "Don't worry. I like it."

Then he kisses him. Jasper kisses Riley's mouth with his own come and everything, and it's hot. Not gross or anything.

His hand finds Riley's cock ready and the tip wet and starts to stroke him, trying to do it as he likes it himself in this awkward position. It's not easy, jerking another person off the opposite way, but he likes the feeling of having a warm, hard and silky cock in his hand, then he stops.

Riley groans into his mouth. "Fuck, Jasper, don't stop!"

"Sorry, I just want to taste you, too. You know?" He's thought about this, how another guy's come would taste, kind of salty like his own.

"Ah, all right, then you better hurry!"

Riley leans back on his hands, his cock pointing straight out. Jasper leans down and kisses the tip, then takes it as far down as he can, which isn't far. He gags almost right away, but tries again, his eyes watering. He does it slower and sucks just on the tip as his hand strokes Riley's cock fast at the bottom. Riley comes and Jasper is not prepared. He coughs and spits. Embarrassed and wiping his mouth, he looks up at Riley.

Riley looks flushed and shaky as he falls down on his back, stretching his legs in front of him as he laughs. "Fuck!"

Jasper pulls up his briefs and pants and sits down, watching Riley. He really needs some water soon; the come burns in his throat and he feels dazed.

Riley rolls around, getting his clothes up, too. His hair looks wilder than ever. "So, I guess this was a one time thing, huh?"

Jasper gets up, too, brushing his pants behind. "Yeah, it was."

"All right," Riley says, smiling at him. "We'll be just friends. Do you want to go find Bella and Alice?"

"Sure," Jasper agrees.

They stumble after each other in the dark, their knees still weak, out onto the football field filled with people and voices. Jasper looks around and sees Edward staring hard at him—watching Riley and Jasper as they pass. Jasper almost falls, but manages to keep himself up when Riley takes his arm, laughing. He feels Edward's eyes burning his back, but he doesn't care. Not at all.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you Jasper1863Hale and Karen Ec for pre-reading, and Sue273 for betaing for me.
> 
> I don't own Twilight. No copyright infringement intended.
> 
> Song: Slowdive, Slouvlaki Space Station: youtube.com/watch?v=G0LIO138Z-A

One year and two months later, it's August and Jasper is eighteen years old:

.

Bella's voice, high with irritation, takes Jasper's attention away from handing out pamphlets to the interested passers-by on the sidewalk.

"How can you even say such a thing?" he hears her say to the man in front of her, her hands waving in front of her like she does when she's agitated. Her hair is long enough now to be tucked behind her ears, keeping it from falling into her face.

Jasper follows their discussion closely from his position. Sometimes Bella can get into very heated arguments, even if it's obvious to everyone that it won't change anything for the better. She just can't help herself. If she meets the wrong person, it's useless for anyone to argue. When she and Jasper are giving out pamphlets like this, they have a reputation to think of. They're not here as private persons, but as representatives for Save The Forest.

"You mean the forest doesn't matter?" Bella's voice gets higher and higher. "Like we can just cut it down because it suits us right this minute?"

Jasper doesn't hear the man's answer, but he's heard it all before. Some people just think about themselves and their own pockets. Nothing new there. He walks over to save Bella before the situation gets any worse.

As he takes her elbow gently, he sees it's just in time, because she jerks her arm away from him, turning angrily and red-faced to yell at him.

He uses his most soothing voice. "Hey, B, I was thinking we could use a lunch break." He gives a quick nod to the man, who just shrugs and brushes past them.

Bella's eyes follow the man as he walks away. "Yeah, sure, you're completely right. I'm sorry it almost got out of hand," she says, striding over to her backpack to find her water bottle.

Jasper tells the others at their booth that they're leaving. It's an especially hot Friday afternoon at the end of August, and most people in the city stride by them, their only goal to get in the shade. The day hasn't been very productive, but they have only a little time left.

He and Bella had a very long day the day before, moving in to Rose's tiny, old apartment, a short walk from campus here in Seattle. She and Emmett finally moved into Emmett's barely bigger place.

They find a coffee shop right around the corner, which has cooling air conditioning, and they both order iced tea before sitting down by the window.

After sipping her drink, Bella asks, "What are you going to do this last week?"

Jasper looks out of the window. "I was thinking I'd see if there's anything I can do at the office."

"Good idea," she says, nodding as she dips her spoon in her tea and then puts it in her mouth.

"You?" Jasper asks as both their phones pipe up almost at the same time. They stare at each other for a second, frozen, then dive for their texts.

"Yes!"

"Finally!"

Excited, he puts his phone down and grabs her hand, grinning. "It's show time!"

.

The bus station in Seattle is overcrowded on Saturday morning; people are everywhere with their backpacks, suitcases and briefcases, tourists looking lost at the end of summer. Jasper squeezes his bag in beside the others in the trunk, hoping for cooler air inside. The bus is crowded, full of the voices and cheering he remembers from the previous year's summer camp in Forks. Finding his way towards the back, looking for Bella and his seat, there are a lot of recognizable faces and the walk takes him long enough for the bus to start.

Finally sitting down, they still wait for everybody else to get seated and Jasper looks out the window, watching a few stragglers shoving their belongings into the trunk. Someone pushes his bag inside, locks the lid, and straightens up. Short brownish-red hair, clear green eyes, and gorgeous scruff—it's Edward.

He's looking just as good as ever, very different with his dreads cut away, but his t-shirt clings to his sweaty body and when he looks up, their eyes lock for a second. Edward gives a quick nod, strides over to the bus door and finds a seat right at the front after boarding.

Jasper sits beside Bella, hearing her chatting away with a guy in front of her, but doesn't take in her words. Sweat is running down his back. He brushes his hand over his forehead, trying to dry it, then reaches up to turn the air conditioning over to his face. The coolness does little to calm him.

Of course, Edward is here; this is where he belongs, at a roadblock, saving the trees from being cut down. He's here to do what he loves, to stop those bulldozers and moneymakers. Or at least show them there are people caring enough to spend their time putting their foot down. Showing the world by using their bodies as a shield that it's not okay to just do whatever you want to get the fancy car, to get the swimming pool in your garden, to have another cabin. That's why they're all going to Port Angeles; some to demonstrate for the first time in their lives, everybody to do what they do—try to save the forest.

This is a bad situation; for a long time Port Angeles Save the Forest has worked hard to stop the building of a huge, expensive cabin complex right outside their beloved forest. But now, the papers have been signed and it's time for the construction workers to start on Monday. The date's been set, all the arguments are over, and their last option is to demonstrate, to use their bodies to try to stop it, or at least to show the world there are people who care.

Bella's elbow hits Jasper in his side, snapping him back to what's happening in the bus, and he realizes his thoughts were on exactly what Edward's talking to them about over the microphone.

"We're here to tell the money makers—in Port Angeles, Washington State, the world—that we don't want to cut down these trees. We don't want the wilderness to be destroyed, the animals to get killed, the rich to get richer! We might not be able to stop them, but we're going to make them lose their precious money every day that we're able to prevent them from starting up. We're going to cause a media show, we're going to be put at risk of being thrown into jail, but we're here and we're willing!"

People clap and cheer when Edward's speech is done. He grins, grabs people's hands as he passes them, walking in the middle of the bus all the way back until the end of it, where Bella and Jasper sit.

Edward stops to talk to a blond-headed, awed-looking guy in front of Jasper. His green eyes flick up at Jasper's again and again before he smiles at the still yammering kid and looks up one last time, winking at Bella and turning around.

Jasper feels even more sweaty than ever and reaches up to turn on the air conditioning again. "Fuck, why isn't this damn system working in this heat?"

He feels a hand on his arm, gentle, but pushing him down in his seat firmly.

"Calm yourself," Bella orders, a wrinkle between her eyes, then she whispers fumingly, "You told me you were over him. That you didn't think of him at all, that there wasn't anything between the two of you!" She pushes on, not relenting until she's up in Jasper's face. "You lied to me; I can tell something happened."

Uncharacteristically, Jasper never told his best friend what he witnessed at the camp last year. He looks around, whispering, "Here's not a good place."

She gives him a stern look. "We'll talk later, Mister, and don't think for a second you're getting out of it!"

"Fine!" Jasper grumbles, crossing his arms over his chest.

Driving past Port Angeles during the early evening, they don't stop there but continue on Olympic highway past the airport, and a few minutes later, pass a sign to Lake Aldwell.

Edward grabs the mic, and says, "Okay, folks, we're nearly there. Grab your belongings and we'll all meet up with our local members from PA. They'll show us where we'll stay, then we'll eat and give out a few messages. You all know there isn't much time left, and we have a lot of things to cover, but hopefully we'll be getting some sleep squeezed in between."

Edward smiles and sits down again as they turn into a side road. After a few minutes on a dirt road, the bus stops beside a group of people sitting on some picnic benches next to an old, big house. It looks dilapidated, with white paint peeling off and broken windows. The blond guy Bella talked to before glances at her, raising his eyebrows. "Is this where we're going to stay?"

Bella shrugs. "We're not here for a holiday, are we?"

Jasper hums in agreement and, as he exits the bus, is attacked by a tiny tornado, holding him close. "I knew you two would come!"

He lets the person down, smiling. "Hi Alice! How are you? Where's Riley?" He looks around, scanning the crowd.

She smiles a little sadly at him, then turns to hug Bella. "Hi girl! I'm so glad to see you here!"

Bella holds around her. "How are you holding up? Riley's all right?"

They start walking towards the house, then go back to get the bags they almost forgot in the trunk. "We'll speak later, okay?" Alice says low and helps them carry their things.

She shows them around the huge house. They place their stuff down where there's a free space and go downstairs, passing people everywhere down the stairs. Ending up outside again by the benches, they sit where others are smoking and talk quietly, a waiting atmosphere surrounding them.

It's starting to get dark when Edward comes out of the house, striding towards the crowd all gathered on the benches and the grass. Riley is following in his footsteps.

Edward says, "Okay, listen up!"

Someone whistles high and the crowd silences completely.

"Thanks." Edward nods. "There are a lot of things we need to go over before Monday morning, and we're short on time. What I suggest we do tonight is eat and go to sleep as quickly as possible, and get up at six tomorrow to start. I know a lot of you are excited to meet here and would like to stay up and talk, but we need to rest, too. You'll all be more prepared to take in new information then." He looks around, his face serious.

"Breakfast is at six and we'll meet up here at six-thirty. If anyone has questions about anything practical with our sleeping arrangements or such, you can go to Alice here; she'll help you." He gestures to Alice, who jumps up and down a little for everyone to see her tiny self.

"All right!" she says. "I'll be sleeping in the room beside the kitchen if anyone needs me. We already have food ready for you for tonight, but I need at least five volunteers for breakfast tomorrow morning. So, anyone ready to be up at five-thirty?" she asks smiling, and immediately gets plenty of ready hands.

"Awesome!" she grins. "And, please everyone, we're borrowing this house from an awesome farmer who supports our cause, and we all want to show him our gratitude, right? So, please take care of everything, don't destroy anything, even though the house is worn down—we want to keep him on our side, all right?"

"Now, let's get some food and sleep!"

"Yes! Food!" someone yells, and the crowd starts chatting again, rises, and spreads.

Jasper glances over to where Riley is standing with his arms crossed in front of his chest, his shoulders stiff. His demeanor does not look approachable, but he still greets Jasper when he sees him and walks over.

"Hi." He smiles curtly.

"Hi, Ri," Jasper says softly. "How are you? You don't look well."

"Nah, I'm all right," Riley shrugs. "I'm just so fucking tense, man. It's this business with the fucking complex, all the hard work we've put into it, to no use. I'm going to fucking show them on Monday that we will not tolerate this shit!"

Jasper gets concerned for his friend.

Riley sighs. "Oh, don't give me that look. I'll behave!"

Jasper studies him, then says low, "Will you?"

Riley laughs curtly. "Sure!" and puts his arm around Jasper as they pass Edward. "Now let's get us some food! I'm fucking starving and we had to wait for you guys before we could eat!"

They go stand in line to get food in the kitchen, talking and Jasper gets the last updates from his friend. He's glad he knows Riley and Alice so well, and have followed their cause all the way. It helps him right now, being a good and understanding friend, and he feels he's more related to the case. If he'd just heard about it and come here with the other members to demonstrate, he'd not feel as strongly about it, he guesses.

Holding his plate carefully, he follows Riley out and sits on the bench, listening to him talk,

"So, there is nothing new, really, just the date's been set starting Monday morning. Nothing more to do now than show up to stop them physically."

"Yeah, I got that," Jasper says between bites. "We'll get a full orientation tomorrow morning, I guess."

"Yeah, you will." Riley nods, swallowing his food and taking a sip of his cup. "How about Ben and Angie, will they be here?" he asks.

"They will come in the morning. They're still in Forks and come with our other members. Bella and I already moved to Seattle this week, so we came with them."

"All right," Riley nods, then leans in to whisper, "He's single now, you know?"

"Huh?"

Riley kicks his shin. "Edward! Idiot!"

"Shh! Don't say it like that!" Jasper looks around, afraid if anyone heard.

"He's not outside now."

Jasper relaxes a little.

"I knew you had a crush on him!" Riley grins. "I saw it during the camp!"

"I didn't have a crush! This is just stupid," Jasper grumbles, irritated.

"What? You're too manly to have a girly crush?"

"Stop it! We're not here to be crushing! We're here to do our thing! And why the hell can't guys have crushes?"

"What crush?" Bella asks, sitting down beside him with Alice. Jasper feels Bella's eyes on him, but he can't meet them. He's not told her about it, and now she'll think he's told Riley.

"Nothing," he mumbles.

"Nah, it's just Jasper's old crush on Edward," Riley says.

"I knew it!" Alice squeaks.

Jasper lifts his eyes to Bella. "I don't have a crush on him. I never did." He leans in to whisper in her ear, "I was in the shower with him."

Bella's breath catches in her throat. "What?" she whispers.

"He came in when I was showering. And later, uhm, sorry I didn't tell you, I saw him fucking his boyfriend and they caught me."

"Oh my God," Bella stares wide eyed at him, then her gaze turns soft. "That's when you had your thing with Ri?"

Jasper gives a quick nod and gazes around the crowds until he finds Edward. "I didn't have a crush on him, but he's hot!"

Bella grins at him. "Yeah, he is! And now he's free, you should go get him!"

Jasper shakes his head. "Nah, we're here to do our thing, we're concentrating on it."

Bella's grin gets wider as she looks over at Edward. "Sure," she drags out.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you Jasper1863Hale and Karen Ec for pre-reading, and Sue273 for betaing for me. Any remaining mistakes are my own.
> 
> I don't own Twilight. No copyright infringement intended.
> 
> Note: The environment organization Save The Forest exists only in my mind as do the building project Jasper wants to stop, but the dam in Lake Aldwell were actually taken down in 2012: youtube.com/watch?v=ftMDkf3d8P0
> 
> Song: Fever Ray, Keep the Streets Empty For Me: youtube.com/watch?v=jWFb5z3kUSQ

Jasper feels tired when a guy's sing-song voice wakes him Sunday morning, calling, "Rise and shine everyone! It's six o'clock! Who wants some coffee?"

He groans, stretches and looks over at Bella, strokes her hair, and whispers, "Hi, B, wake up."

She grunts a little, stretching herself, mumbling, "Mmm, I was having the most delicious dream." She takes out her earplugs, placing them in the little yellow box for the next night.

Jasper snickers at her. "You were having a sex dream?" He pokes her side.

She coughs to clear her voice. "Hey, I haven't gotten any for a long time, you know. It's natural to be horny then."

"Ha! Imagine how I feel, then!" Jasper exclaims.

Riley turns around on his sleeping mat, squinting his eyes at them. His voice is raspy from sleep when he asks, "Haven't gotten any yet, Jas? Who'd have thought it?"

"Oh, shut up, you two," Jasper grumbles, pulling up his shorts and looking around his bag for a clean t-shirt.

"Yes, that's right!" Riley pretends to remember, chuckling. "You're saving yourself for Edward. How romantic."

Jasper kicks him gently.

"Ouch!" Riley utters, pretending to be hurt, then turns to Bella. "Is he always so touchy?"

She snickers. "You must give him some slack, Ri. He's Forks' only eighteen-year-old virgin, or so he thinks—still! Can you imagine? With that face and glowing personality he still thinks he'll die a virgin!" They laugh at him now.

"Fuck! Stop with the teasing, will you? I don't really believe that!"

"Well, you used to," Bella says.

"Yeah? Well, I don't anymore. And I don't have a 'glowing personality'. So, cut the crap, or I'll start teasing you back! You both know I have some leverage on the both of you!"

"Ooh, scary!" Bella winks at Riley. "He's smart, too!"

"Fine, you stay here. I'm going to go eat. I need a big cup of coffee now, thanks to you two!" Jasper shakes his head as he walks down the stairs, greeting people in various stages of dressing. He finds breakfast in the kitchen and walks outside to see there is going to be sunshine today; there's not a cloud in sight.

A stroll around the house leads him around to the back side where he didn't go yesterday. There is the lake a few hundred yards down from the house, and by the wall is a bench, where someone sits silently—Edward.

"Hi," Jasper says low. "Do you want some peace?"

Edward turns his head towards him and smiles, patting the wooden bench beside him. "No, please sit? I could use some company."

"Okay." Jasper holds his plate in front of him and walks over to sit down, leaning his back against the peeling wall.

"It's nice here," he says, before he takes a bite of his sandwich and looks around.

Edward warms his hands around his coffee cup in the chilly air. "Yeah, this is a beautiful place."

They sit in silence for a while before Edward sets his empty cup down and points to their left, where there's only forest in sight. "That's where the complex will be. Perfectly placed for the ones with enough money to buy it, but ruining the forest trails we commoners have used for a long time. Now that the dam has finally been taken away, it will be magnificent here. It's such a shame." He shakes his head in sadness.

Jasper stares at Edward, incredulous. "You don't have any hope for us to succeed?"

Edward sighs. "No, I don't. This protest is just for show." He places one foot on the bench, holding around it. "I've become a practical person, and even though I still have my dreams and ideals, I know how the reality works. We'll do our best, but in a few days when we can't hold it any longer, they'll start digging. There is no doubt in my mind."

Jasper looks over to the forest soon to be cut down, and sighs. "Can we go there now? Take a walk around to see how it is before they ruin it?"

"No," Edward tells him. "Gratings and fences have already been set up; it'd be too risky for us. I bet they know we're here, ready for Monday. Save The Forest and other organizations worked against it all the way, so they expect to be met with resistance tomorrow, I'm sure."

Jasper nods, as all this is new to him. He drinks up his coffee, expecting them to get started soon. Before he gets to rise up, Edward places a hand on his arm. "I wanted to talk to you last year at the camp."

Jasper looks down at the grass, unsure if he wants to hear what Edward has to say to him. It's too embarrassing to think about how it must have looked to Edward, like Jasper was spying on him and his boyfriend fucking in the janitor's office.

He listens, though, to what Edward has to say. "You were really great last year helping me with the course in the forest and I felt we got on greatly, but then afterward you saw Garrett and me fucking. I wanted to tell you how sorry I was that you had to witness it. I thought I had locked the door. It was never my intention to let you, or anyone else see us like that."

Edward lets Jasper's arm go, combing his fingers through his hair instead, sighing. "Hell, you were, what? Sixteen?"

"Seventeen," Jasper mumbles.

"Well, yeah. Garrett and I had been together for a long time, on and off, as we were really busy with all the stuff filling our lives; traveling around to protests, holding courses, our studies and work, and meetings. Garrett could never sit still, was always having to do stuff, even when we had time alone just the two of us. We hardly ever saw each other. So, when we had a chance, you know, we grabbed it?"

"Yeah, I understand," Jasper says.

Edward sighs before he continues his rant. His eyes glaze over like he doesn't remember Jasper is there listening to him. "It ended not long after; our relationship. It was just natural really, and now I'm starting work in September, staying in Seattle while Garrett is in New York. I can't travel around anymore like I used to, but it's fine. I must earn money to pay for my student loans and there are a lot of useful things to do even though I'm staying in one place, you know?"

Jasper quietly listens to Edward talking about himself, personal stuff, like he just realized he's a grown up. He has no idea why Edward feels the need to tell him all these things, but he doesn't want him to stop. Jasper wants to know everything, to get to know this man; he's grasping every straw he can get. Everything Edward's willing to give him, he'll gladly take.

"And then you ran into the forest and I couldn't stop you," Edward continues. "Garrett wondered why I cared about what you'd seen, and I thought I was worried in case you got traumatized. I bet you'd never seen two guys fucking, right?"

Jasper can't find any words; his mouth opens and closes as he's staring at Edward's concerned face, then shakes his head, because he hadn't, not in real life.

"That's what I thought," Edward sighs, his shoulders sagging. "I couldn't find you before you came stumbling out of the forest with Riley. Did you let him fuck you?"

"Oh, God!" Jasper rises up, so not ready to talk about his sex life with Edward.

"Jasper?" Edward says, rising up behind him.

Suddenly Jasper gets really angry; why the hell would he ask him this? Edward doesn't have any right to know if he and Riley were fucking.

"Jasper," Edward says again. "I found the condom and lube in the forest the next day. Did you want to try out what you'd seen?"

"Oh, my God, Edward! How naive did you think I was?" Jasper fumes. "Here you sit and talk about being a realist, despite your ideals and dreams, and you think I would be traumatized by you and your boyfriend fucking? What the hell? I was seventeen not seven, you moron. I was turned on! I wanted it to be me you were fucking, okay! I wanted you!"

Edward stares at him, stunned for seconds. "You? How? What?"

"How difficult is it for you to understand? I was a small town, seventeen-year-old gay virgin meeting the—" He gestures to Edward in a non-specific way. "The man of my dreams, or I don't know, someone I found unbelievable attractive. Of course, I knew you had a boyfriend and that you thought of me as a kid! You told me that very clearly. And then you showed up in the shower! I thought I would combust from all the nakedness!"

Edward gapes at him and Jasper realizes how much he has revealed, slaps his hand over his mouth. "Fuck! I'm sorry, I … I need to go; we need to start our day! Fuck!"

"Jasper!" Edward yells after him as he jogs around the corner and into the house to find a place to be alone, at least for two seconds.

He sits down on the toilet in a tiny bathroom and breathes deeply, then jumps up again and splashes water on his face.

"Get a grip, Jas," he says to himself in the mirror. "You're not a kid anymore. Edward said some pretty stupid things out there; you had a right to react the way you did." Then he slumps down on the seat again, thinking about all he revealed. "Fuck!"

Hitting the wall, he mumbles, "No, be strong; this is a stupid little thing, no need to think about it for a second more!" He gets up, gives his reflection a nod, and walks out the door. He's met with a bus coming on the dirt road, the dry sand filling the air around the wheels. Walking over to join Bella and Alice standing by the benches, he waves to their friends from Forks exiting the bus, greeting them happily: Ben and Angie, Victoria and James.

And then Seth walks out with his cousin, Jacob, in tow.

"Oh, fuck," Bella mumbles low, but loud enough for Jasper to hear.

He elbows her. "Hey, looks like there could be some action for you really soon, huh?" He grins as Jacob passes them, glancing at Bella from the corner of his eye.

"Okay, folks!" Edward yells, hopping up on one of the picnic tables. "Now we're all here, and there are a lot of us. This is fantastic." He's smiling to the crowd like he really thinks they'll be able to stop the constructors the following day.

"Today, we'll rehearse what we'll do tomorrow and find the answers to everything you might be wondering about. A lot of you have done this before, but some have not and since we're short on time, we'll help each other out. All right?"

"Hell yeah!" someone yells.

"Now before lunch we'll talk about how we will use non-violence to protest."

Riley yells loudly, "Hell if I will; I'll punch these bastards in the face!"

"Riley!" Edward scolds him angrily. "You will not!"

Then he addresses the crowd again. "We will under no circumstances provoke, be disrespectful or ruin things. Never expose yourself or others to danger, never!"

"We will sit in line facing opposite ways, linking arms to make a chain and form a human blockage. We will use non-violent resistance, so just make yourself limp when they try to pull you away. Never fight back.

"After lunch, we'll talk about what to do if you get taken into custody; don't accept any tickets, but always give your name and never hide who you are. Don't fight back, always be respectful. You can laugh about them later, but never to their faces."

Edward looks from face to face, all serious. "They will use all the bully and control techniques in the book, as you hopefully have learned about before, but do not let them provoke you. We'll sit there singing, and if anybody gets violent, it will be them! It will be them that gets to look like the bad guys tomorrow!"

The crowd erupts in cheers and yells, everyone on their feet. Jasper has to admit he gets sucked in by Edward's speech like the others. He suddenly thinks that Edward would have made a great politician; he certainly has his way with speaking to crowds.

All day they talk, train and work hard. When it's late afternoon, Jasper feels sweaty and thirsty, and in need of a break. He walks into the kitchen where the dinner volunteers stand sweating even more than he is over the pots. Grabbing a water bottle, he enters the living room where there are big windows facing the lake. He strides over bags, backpacks and toiletries to stand by one of the windows. Taking long sips of his cooling water, he sees Bella standing by a tree talking to Jacob, and then she rises up on her toes and kisses him.

Jasper sets his empty bottle in the windowsill with a smile on his face when he feels a hand on his shoulder.

"There you are," Edward says softly. "You always run away from me."

Jasper stares down at the window sill, noticing some mold at the bottom of the cracked glass.

"You can't expect me to leave what you said alone," Edward tells him. Jasper feels Edward's eyes on him.

Jasper turns to him, scanning over every detail of the other man's face up close. "I didn't mean to reveal all those things to you, but you made me so angry and feel so young and naive. You're not that much older than me, you know."

Edward smiles softly at him before he averts his eyes, looking out at Bella and Jacob making out against a tree. Jacob's lifted her up and she clings to him, exposing her white neck to his kisses. "I realize that now."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you Jasper1863Hale and Karenec for pre-reading, and Sue273 for betaing.
> 
> Song: Windy and Carl, Lighthouse: youtube.com/watch?v=g3aT9OTvpqI

Early Monday morning, just as it's starting to get light outside, Jasper follows the other protesters along the dirt road to the construction site by the forest. He yawns all the way, tired after yesterday's intense preparations and the lack of sleep, but the coffee he consumed and the tension in his stomach keeps him on his toes.

There's chatting and excitement all around him, not at all like a normal, dead-early morning. He glances over at Bella walking beside him. She rubs her eyes and grins up at him before she yawns.

Nearing the site, the birds start to wake up, too, and the group quiets down on its own. Jasper feels butterflies swirling in his stomach as he rounds the last turn and is met by a metal fence about eight feet high. Jacob already has a bolt cutter prepared; he snips an opening and they all go inside.

As they walk over the quiet, big gravel area the builders have made for their equipment, their feet swirl up the dry sand. There are bulldozers, huge diggers, dumper trucks, and two big, walking timber harvest machines parked beside the site office, waiting for their humans to ride them.

Riley storms over to the nearest harvester and kicks it.

"Fucking scorpion," he cries, spitting at it.

Edward sighs. "Stop being so melodramatic!"

Riley places his hand on the machine, a determined expression on his face. "I claim this one."

Edward rolls his eyes. "Fine! Let's get ready!"

Some of the group stay by the machines, placing their gear down and getting the chains out. Jasper looks back, seeing them help each other lock themselves to the two harvesters, as he follows the rest of his group over to the dirt road made for the machines to access the trees. The group splits in two, as Edward and Jasper walk over to either side and start helping out with the ropes for the tree-sitters.

"Do you think Riley will behave?" Jasper asks Alice, securing the rope safely around her.

She sighs deeply, testing his knots. "I fucking hope so, but then you know how intense he can be when he puts his mind to something."

"Yeah, I do," Jasper replies, having experienced it himself, and goes to the next tree to help Ben with his rope.

Climbing her tree, Alice tells him, "There is nothing more we can do than wait and see how it plays out."

Edward finishes helping his side and moves over to Jasper's. When the tree-sitters are all comfortably high up in the trees, Jasper joins the rest, sitting arm in arm, facing opposite ways, beside Angela in the line across the road, ready to hinder the machines.

He expects Bella to sit on his other side, but she finds a free spot beside Angela, and grins at him. A pair of worn out military boots come to stand in front of him. Looking up slowly, he finds Edward's face, scanning the gravel area.

"They'll be coming soon," he says, sitting down beside Jasper.

It's still early morning, and summer or not, it's cold staying on the ground in the shadows of the forest. He shivers as Edward hooks an arm carefully under his.

"You're cold?" Edward asks softly.

Jasper rubs his hands together. "Only a little."

Hyper aware of his arm being skin against skin with Edward's, and thinking about all he revealed to him yesterday, he feels uncomfortable. He shifts around, finding it hard to sit still with Edward so close, knowing. Then he feels a brush like a butterfly's wing against the sensitive skin under his arm. He stiffens and slowly tilts his head to see Edward's thumb there, deliberately stroking back and forth.

Then Edward says, "They're coming."

There are just a couple of cars in the beginning, but as the workers' morning shift approaches, more and more constructors park. Some surprised faces are seen, but many just look angry. They all flock together and Jasper sees some laugh and shake their heads.

Then a car screeches to a halt, nearly crashing with another one. A man flies out, red-faced, striding over to the harvester where Riley's been chained.

"What the hell do you think you're doing to my machine?" the man yells, yanking at them.

"Keep quiet now, Riley," Jasper hears Edward mumble beside him.

They all start singing softly songs they prepared yesterday. It seems this is what Riley needs, something to do while he ignores the man. Jasper regrets having sat down with his back to the area where everything's happening, but today is all about waiting anyway. He's tense and nervous, but at least he's not thinking about Edward anymore, right?

Singing softly, he looks at his friends up in the trees, Bella and Angela smiling to each other beside him, and Victoria and James further down. Then he feels Edward's thumb again and he can't help but look his way.

Edward's eyes are as green as the forest, his red-brown hair is messy, sticking up in all directions, and he has a light shade of scruff on his cheeks. He's got a few freckles on his chin and a mole on his neck. They all have their green Save The Forest t-shirts on and Edward has rolled the arms up as high as they go. On his muscular upper arm, Jasper sees a tattoo—it might be a dragon—half hidden under the green fabric.

Jasper feels a pinch on his arm, and his eyes shoot up to meet Edward's. He's stopped singing and his pupils are more black than green, one eyebrow raised in question.

Luckily, Angela yanks at Jasper's other arm. "The police are coming."

They start singing a little louder and Jasper turns to see the angry man gesticulating heatedly to a policeman.

He turns around again, and Edward says, "This will be a long day."

Time passes and angry words are being yelled, chains are being rattled. After the media shows up, filming outside the fence and interviewing the cops and the constructors, the police van arrives. Orders are given and the workers folds their arms over their chest, watching as a policeman addresses the protesters through a megaphone.

"Okay, people! You've all proven your point. Now you need to get out of here so these workers can do their job."

They sit still, singing softly.

Time passes.

"You've all now got half an hour to get yourself voluntarily outside of the fence, or else we'll come and get you."

He sees Edward sit up straighter, his focus on the policeman, then Jasper rubs his thumb along Edward's arm softly. His eyes snap to Jasper's, a tense expression on his face, and Jasper smiles at him. Edward stares at him. Seconds pass, his nostrils flare and Jasper realizes Edward loves this, loves the excitement of the situation. Even if Edward tells himself and others he's become a practical person, he still enjoys protests—doing something.

"All right, folks, time's up. Either you walk voluntarily out of here right now, or we'll make you!"

No one moves.

Then Jasper hears heavy footsteps behind him, the cops walking around them, assessing the situation.

One of them notices, "Fuck, there's more of them up in the trees!"

His partner answers, sighing, "This is going to be a long day."

The cops carry them out one at a time, leaving them on the grass beyond the fence, where the media awaits, attacking them with questions that Edward is more than willing to answer. The constructors have hired guards by the gate now, making sure there is no way for the protesters to get inside again.

Jasper sits waiting besides the others, watching as more and more are carried out, hanging as heavy and slack as possible in the arms of the sweating policemen.

"Well, that went quickly!" Bella comments beside him.

"Uhm," Jasper mumbles noncommittally, his eyes on the angry man stomping around Riley, who is still chained to the harvester, grinning at the man. Jasper points to him. "He looks really pissed off."

Two policemen climb up on the harvester, a huge bolt cutter ready in their hands, and cut the chains with a lot of difficulty. The man stands below them with his arms crossed in front of his chest, a satisfied expression now on his face.

Riley is carried by three policemen over the gravel area, hanging slack in their arms. The angry man gets into the harvester, starts it, and begins to turn it to the forest. Riley tenses and falls down on the gravel. Trying to get up, he yells something at the man, but Jasper can't hear. The policemen grab his arms as he tries to run to the harvester and drag him with them, his legs hanging slack behind him.

"Fuck," Jasper mutters.

Raising up, they all stare at Riley as he's pulled over towards the fence, the video cameras filming it all. He isn't dumped beside his friends, but dragged to the police van and placed in the back, the doors closing.

The media attacks Edward with questions again. He looks excited and more than willing to answer them all.

"I hope he'll be all right and doesn't do anything more stupid," Alice says, pressing her hands to her cheeks, staring at the van as it drives away with Riley. They all stand looking after it until it's out of their sight, then turn to Alice.

Bella puts her arm around her shoulders. "We'll go to the station and see if there is anything we can do to help our friend, all right?"

Alice's shoulders slump down and she smiles weakly up at Bella. "Thank you!"

"I'll come with you and help out," Jacob declares, nodding at Bella.

It's late afternoon when they walk along the dirt road over to the house after Alice. Bella and Jacob have gone into Port Angeles to help Riley. Jasper still feels full of adrenalin while everyone's talking and discussing their day around him. Then he feels a smack on his behind.

"Hey!" Edward grins, suddenly beside him. "How are you? You looked so nervous before."

Jasper's heart jumps in his throat at the sight of the other man, his smile and glimmering eyes, moving over Jasper's face. Edward bumps his shoulder against his.

"I'm all right," Jasper answers, not taking his eyes off him. Edward must have forgotten to put on sunscreen today, because his nose is a little red. His hair is sticking up in all directions after combing his fingers through it with sweaty hands. "It all turned out like you said it would."

Edward shrugs. "Yeah, no more we can do about it now. Let's just hope the media twists the case to our advantage. I pulled all the tricks in the book when I talked to them."

They near the house and Jasper goes to the kitchen to get something to drink before aiming to go out and sit on the picnic benches. Edward, drinking from his own water bottle, his t-shirt now hanging from his back pocket, stops him in the hall.

"I'm so thirsty!" Edward says, placing the bottle to his lips, drinking in huge gulps and making water run down his scruff and neck.

The adrenalin that had finally started to wear off from Jasper's body on entering the house, returns in full force as he stands there in the hall, staring at the droplets running down Edward's bare chest. His own water, long forgotten in his hand, falls to the floor with a thud when Edward places his finger under Jasper's chin, lifting his face up so their eyes meet. Edward stares intensely and hungrily into his eyes, resting his hand flat on the wall beside Jasper's head.

Leaning closer, Edward's breath fans over his face as he asks, "You still want me, right?"

Jasper's heart is thundering in his chest. Where are his words when he needs them?

"You look at me like you do," Edward mumbles as he leans in, closing the distance between their mouths, brushing his water-wet lips over Jasper's dry ones.

Jasper feels stiff as a stick, his arms pressed against his sides. He did not expect this. He's seen Edward's eyes on him more than once, sure, and hell he's a gorgeous man with lots of sexual experience. He'd be the right person to help Jasper get rid of his annoying virginity, and Jasper wants him—wants him so fucking much.

Edward puts some pressure to his lips, kissing Jasper once, before slowly backing away a few inches.

"You don't wanna?" he asks, kissing the boy's neck up to bite lightly on his earlobe. Jasper's doubt starts slipping away; he wants this man so much. He should take what he can get.

"Yes," he moans low. "I still want you."

Edward grins triumphantly at him and takes his hand, leading him up the stairs. "Then let's find a room."

"No," Jasper tells him, not allowing himself to get led. "If you really want me, you'll have to work for it."


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you Jasper1863Hale and Karenec for pre-reading, and Sue273 for betaing.
> 
> Song: M83, We Own The Sky: youtube.com/watch?v=Bzge5vY72hEch

Edward removes his foot from the stairs, turning fully to face him. "Work for it? You want me, right? And I want you."

Jasper nods in agreement. "Right."

"So, what's the problem?" Edward asks, cocking an eyebrow as he closes the distance between them, and whispers, "Let's do it. I'll make it really good for you."

Placing a hand on his shoulder, Edward brushes it down to the small of his back. Jasper feels dizzy as all of the blood in his head leaves his brain. "Yes!" he wants to say. "I want you to make it good. Put your hands all over me."

Edward's so close, Jasper can feel the warmth of his skin. This man making it really good for him is what he desires; touching, kissing and to be as close as possible for two human beings. It'd be so tempting to give in to this want, to finally do what he's fantasized about for over a year, but what would happen afterward?

Right now, Edward's feeling high with excitement from their protest and his dealings with the media. Would he even look Jasper in the eye tomorrow? They'll go back to Seattle, run into each other at meetings and other Save The Forest related stuff, and that will be all. Edward won't look at him twice tomorrow if they have sex tonight. Jasper feels sure of it.

Resolutely, he pushes Edward away lightly. "No, but thanks. I'm not looking for a one-night stand."

He'll probably regret his decision for the rest of his virgin life; lying alone in his cold bed, always with his own hand on his cock, until he's really old—like thirty or something.

Edward regards him closely. "You let Riley fuck you, so why not me?"

"What?" Jasper gapes at him in shock. "You think because Riley and I fooled around one time last year, I'd let anyone fuck me?" He lifts his hands in the air, frustrated. "I can't believe it."

Edward breathes out a frustrated sigh. "No! I did not mean it like that! It's just we're both attracted to each other, so why can't we do something? We don't have to fuck if you don't wanna. We can do other stuff."

Jasper sighs, picking up his abandoned water bottle from the floor and unscrews the lid.

"First off, Riley and I did not fuck. Second, who says I'd let you fuck me? Maybe I'd want to fuck you?" He cocks an eyebrow, staring at Edward in a challenging way to make it seem like he's much more confident about his decision than he really is.

Edward looks like a deer caught in the headlights, with his eyes widening and visibly swallowing. With his eyes, he follows the movement as Jasper lifts the bottle to his lips.

He takes his time drinking, and when he's finally finished—with no answer from Edward—he speaks again.

"I want to have sex; who doesn't? I don't feel like doing it just to say I have done it anymore. You've made me realize I want more. Someone to hang out with and have sex with—multiple times! I want a boyfriend. I don't wanna fuck you now just because you—" He gestures in the direction of Edward's body, "feel like it at this moment." He tries to look as confident as his words sound and leans against the wall in a relaxed posture before he continues.

"Besides, hearing what came out of your mouth just now—" He stops and holds up a hand when he sees Edward open his mouth to interrupt. "I know you said you didn't mean it like that, but I realize that I know so little about you. You are good-looking, talented, and experienced, but if you're really an asshole, I don't want to go near your asshole." He's completely sure about his decision.

Edward doesn't say anything for a long time as he scrutinizes him, and Jasper starts regretting his words.

Then Edward grabs his cell from his pocket. "All right, let me get your number and we'll do this your way."

Jasper stares at him blankly. "My way?"

He looks up from his phone. "Yeah, didn't your whole speech just now mean you want to date me?"

Jasper's so pleased there is a chair in the hall because he needs to sit down right this minute. It takes some time before he's able to close his mouth and ask, "Date you?" before remembering his newfound confidence, clears his voice, and says, "Sure."

He hadn't come this far in his reasoning, but after hearing Edward say it, he realizes that it's what he wants, and he exchanges numbers with a grin. Tucking his phone back in his pocket, he watches Edward as he turns away, wondering what will come of this. He could really use his best friend right now, but she's in Port Angeles trying to get Riley back.

As he follows Edward out to the others, he understands what he needs to do and he's quite proud of himself for accomplishing this without his best friend. Now, he needs to try to stay calm and see what happens.

Edward snickers as they walk out. "Did you actually say, 'If you're really an asshole, I don't want to go near your asshole'? What the hell?"

He lightly thumps Edward's shoulder. "Hey, don't judge! I had an epiphany, all right?. It's not that easy to turn down a guy like you."

"A guy like me, huh?" Edward grins, winking at him. "So, would you say a guy like me would get to de-virginize you anytime soon?"

"Shit! You caught that, huh?" he sighs, combing his hand through his sweaty hair. "Fuck! The things you make me admit!"

Edward laughs. "Honesty is a good thing! Better for us both that I know it before rather than after."

Jasper gulps, mumbling, "After ..."

Edward grabs his shoulder. "Yeah, after!" He leaves him alone, walking over to jump up on one of the picnic tables where everyone seems to have gathered, lost as to what to do.

Jasper sits down on the bench next to Angela, folding his arm around her shoulders and smiling at her when she turns to him. She relaxes against him.

"How's it going, Jas?" She wonders, both of them eyeing Edward up on the table.

"It's good," he mumbles, squeezing her shoulder.

"Something happening between you two?"

Edward grins over at them before he starts talking. "All right! So, tomorrow we're leaving this house, and we need to discuss this morning, even though I'm sure everyone is tired after a long day—I know I am!. There will be no chance tomorrow for all of us to evaluate and make sure we do an even better job next time."

Groans echo all around them, and Jasper whispers to Angela, "There's a possibility I need to talk to you about something really soon."

She looks at him, confused.

"Let's just say for now that the two of us have something in common when it comes to—" he leans closer to her ear, "you know... sex." He can see her neck getting red and realizing this might be too personal for her, he adds, "We don't have to."

She reassures him, patting his hand on her shoulder. "No, it's fine, Jas. Ben tells you everything and it's all good, so don't worry. I'm happy that this is an issue for you. We'll talk soon, I promise."

He kisses the top of her head, turning to focus on the discussion in the group, doing their last part in this protest.

.

It's early the next morning when he wakes to whispers and someone bumping against his leg. He groans, turning to his stomach before he recognizes Bella and Riley's hushed murmurs, causing him to sit up quickly.

"Hey! You're back!" His voice is gruff from sleep. "What happened?"

"Oh, you're awake!" Bella yawns as she scrambles into her sleeping bag. "We just got back. Everything's all right. Just need some sleep now."

"What time is it?"

Riley answers, "It's almost five. You should go back to sleep."

He pulls off his t-shirt, sniffs it, and throws it away to the growing pile of dirty laundry with a disgusted look on his face.

Jasper scratches his hair and closes his eyes again even before he hits the pillow.

The next time he wakes up, the sun is shining on his face. Bella and Riley are still snoring softly in their sleeping bags, but the house is full of noise and life. He gets up and grabs the cleanest t-shirt he's got and pulls on his shorts.

Downstairs, there's a lot of luggage in the hall and people everywhere carrying their breakfast plates or backpacks out to the benches. Jasper walks to the kitchen to get some coffee. The last day's excitement is starting to wear off and he needs lots of caffeine before he gets back to their apartment in Seattle.

It's just before noon when everyone is ready and the house is as clean as it was when they arrived. The bus returns with dust clouds, stopping on the dirt road beside the benches.

Jasper shoves his backpack into the trunk and enters, finding seats for him and Bella at the back, but as people enters and fills the seats, Bella waves at him and sits down beside Jacob in the middle.

Understanding her need to be with her new boyfriend, Jasper takes out his MP3 player and headphones, intending to listen to some music and maybe sleep for a while on the nearly three hour trip home. Placing his messenger bag against the window, he leans against it and closes his eyes. It doesn't take long for him to fall into an easy slumber.

He must have fallen asleep quickly, because he dreams there's a hand on his knee, slipping under his shorts onto his bare thigh, and it feels so good he moans a little. But then the fingers squeeze him as if in warning and he cracks one eye open to see it's actually a hand there—Edward's.

He scrambles to sit up, headphones falling over his face, and hurries to wipe the drool from his mouth.

"Hi," Edward greets him softly.

Jasper tries to greet him in return, but only a croak comes out. He hurries to place his bag over his half-hard cock.

"You're living in Seattle now, aren't you?" Edward asks, handing him a water bottle that Jasper greedily takes and empties.

He passes back the bottle, scratching his hair as he answers, "Yeah, Bella and I share a small apartment there. You live there, too, right?"

"Yes, I have a tiny loft apartment. It's not much, but it's enough for Sam and me."

"Oh? Is Sam your cat?" Jasper wonders, turning to lean his back against the window.

"No, my dog," Edward says with a fond look on his face. "He's an angry beast, but I love him anyway. He's been with me for years."

"I've never had any animals," Jasper muses, pulling at a thread on his worn out shorts.

He looks up when Edward says, "The two of us like to go on hikes and camp and such. Do you like that?"

"Yes!" Jasper almost shouts, so pleased they have something other than Save The Forest in common.

Edward smiles. "We should do that together, go hiking next weekend. Would you like that?"

"Yes, I'd love to." Jasper grins. "You'll take your dog with you?"

"Always," he breathes, and Jasper notices Edward's gaze on his mouth. He touches his lip, thinking he's got something there, but Edward takes his fingers away softly, his eyes never leaving his mouth.

"You know you have an amazing smile, right?"

Surprised, Jasper swallows the sudden tightness in his throat, shaking his head because he doesn't know what he's feeling.

Edward's hand is back on his thigh, warm and firm. He places his pointer finger where Jasper knows he's got a stupid dimple and presses lightly into it.

"I'd love to go hiking with you, too," Edward whispers.

.

Backpack ready by his feet, Jasper waits for Bella, standing away from the exhaust of the bus as she searches through the heap of luggage in the trunk for her own. He's not sure if he should tell Edward goodbye or what. Instead, he ignores the tightness in his stomach and concentrates on waiting for his roommate.

He sees Edward grab his things, hugging people and waving before he stops for a second, eyes searching around the crowd. When he sees Jasper, he smiles and stride towards him with his phone in his hand, ready to get home.

Jasper's heart skips a beat, anxiously wondering what will happen. It's not like he's dated anyone before or had a boyfriend, and he's not really sure what Edward's really looking for in him. He must have had lots of boyfriends, and he certainly knows what to do. Jasper can't see why he would want to be with him. He hates not knowing, the uncertainty, and worry. But suddenly Edward's in front of him, combing his long fingers confidently and decisively into Jasper's hair at the back of his head, and pulls him closer.

Then Edward kisses him.

In front of everybody.

Jasper's heart pounds in his chest. Everything around him turns blurry and far away, because it's only them—only mouth, wetness and warmth that matters for what feels like a long time.

Too early, Edward pulls away, giving him a last peck on the lips.

"You looked so worried. Don't you trust me?" Edward breathes, still holding the back of Jasper's head as he gazes into his eyes.

"I don't really know you."

Edward persuades him. "Don't worry, you'll get to know me. We'll do things together and both get to know each other. Maybe we don't really fit together, but we'll find out. You'll just have to take a chance, Jasper. You just have to make the choice—choose to trust me."

"All right," Jasper agrees.

Finally home in their apartment, Jasper throws his backpack on the floor and falls onto his back on his bed. Bella joins him a minute later, leaning on her elbows, her hands supporting her chin as she grins at him. "I think we have a lot to talk about!"

"Yeah, we do!" Jasper laughs, turning to face her just as he receives a text.

He's quiet while he reads it.

"What does it say?" Bella asks, still smiling at him before she sees his expression. "Let me see!"

She grabs his phone and reads it out loud, "I can't make it next weekend after all."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!
> 
> I've signed up for the multi fandom Perverse Bang Fest (amongst 106 others!): perverse-bang.livejournal.com


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you Jasper1863Hale and Karenec for pre-reading, and Sue273 for betaing. Any remaining mistakes are my own.
> 
> A special thank you to BregoMellonNin for lending me her dog expertise, in addition to being an awesome writing companion and friend.
> 
> Song: 'Glory Box' by Portishead: youtube.com/watch?v=yF-GvT8Clnkch

"What the hell? I'm going to kick his ass!" Bella yells, looking furiously at Jasper who's lying on his back, holding his stomach with silent laughter. "Why are you laughing?"

He waves his hand in the general direction of the phone. "Read on!"

"There's more?" She searches down, reading, "Are you free the weekend in two weeks instead?"

She relaxes beside him again. "Oh, thank God! I thought I'd actually have to go to jail for violence instead of roadblocking now. Thanks, Edward, for not ruining my future!"

She turns to Jasper. "Let me have his number. I need to call him and give him a piece of my mind for giving me a heart attack like that."

Laughing at her, he types his answer to Edward. "I'll have to see if Bella will let me go. She's ready to strangle you now after she read just the first line of your text!"

He quickly replies and Jasper reads it out loud. "Tell her I say 'please?' and it's not my fault she didn't read the whole text before jumping to conclusions!"

Bella dictates the next message he sends. "She says she might be persuaded if you bribe her with something that'll make it worth her while."

"Tell her I know Jacob very well. Perhaps she wants to hear some stories about him?" Jasper gets back immediately, showing it to Bella.

"She says, and I quote: Just give me his fucking phone number!"

A little later, Jasper reads, "Do I really want her to have my number?"

Typing quickly, he replies, "Bella and I are a package deal."

Bella smiles at him. "Yes, we are."

"All right, I can live with that," Edward answers. "As long as I get you to myself from time to time."

Bella finds her phone, typing in Edward's number as Jasper answers him. "You'll be receiving a text from her shortly, she says."

"Okay! We'll talk soon. I've got to pick up Sam from my brothers'."

"K. Tell him 'hi' from me?"

Jasper laughs at the answer he gets. "My brother?"

"No! Your dog!"

"Think you can get to me through him?"

He's grinning, typing fast."Yes?"

"Okay, that works! ;)"

Bella sighs beside him, her hand playing with his hair. "Aw, you two are the sweetest."

He slaps her arm. "Hey! I'm not sweet! I'm manly as fuck!"

Snickering, she pinches his chin. "Sure you are." Then she yawns widely. "I think a nap is required before anything else."

Jasper snuggles into her, drawing his blanket over them both. "All right, but then I want to hear about Jacob! Oh, and Riley!"

She mumbles, already half-asleep. "Only if I get all the details about Edward."

.

It's Wednesday morning when Jasper receives another text from Edward during class. He sneaks it open in his lap, reading stealthily. "I wanna go watch "Mama" tomorrow. Can you come with ?"

"Yes :)" Jasper answers, making a point to remember to watch the trailer tonight. What kind of movie is Mama? Sounds kind of boring to him.

Watching it late that night before he goes to sleep, he's glad he already brushed his teeth and doesn't have to get out of bed again before the morning. Every time he watches scary movies, he clearly remembers the ghost-girl under the bed in The Sixth Sense and jumps onto his bed, thinking she's going to pop out and grab him.

Standing with his hands in his pockets waiting for Edward outside the movies, he nervously shifts his weight from foot to foot. Then he feels a hand on his shoulder.

"Hi, Jas." Edward's beside him, his eyes happy and a gorgeous wide smile on his face. Jasper feels a pang in his chest at the sight. "Are you nervous?" Edward asks, still grinning. "Do I make you nervous?"

"No! Yes! I mean … I've never really been on a date," he admits softly.

Edward looks puzzled at him. "Not a single date?" Jasper shakes his head in denial. "Wow, that's surprising." Edward looks like he doesn't believe him and it makes Jasper feel really young and inexperienced. "No one asked you out? Ever?"

"No. I grew up in Forks, remember? There aren't any other gay boys there as far as I know."

"That must have been hard," Edward says, leaning his side against the wall. "No girls asked you out not knowing you're gay?"

"Nah, I came out when I was fifteen."

"What made you realize you're gay?"

Jasper thinks back to the time when he first colored his hair and met Bella. "I just knew it for sure one day. You know, we all grow up with expectations of being straight so it took a little while to really get it. And then there was Peter, of course."

"Who's Peter?" Edward asks at once.

Jasper smiles at his quick reply. "He's Bella's big brother."

"Ah, the big brother crush." Edward nods knowingly.

"Yeah." Jasper shrugs.

"So did anything happen with you and him?"

Jasper shakes his head. "No, he's straight. He was just my first crush. We're great friends."

"You had many crushes since him?"

"Just one," Jasper admits quietly.

Edward watches him, all serious-like, and the way he quickly glances down at Jasper's lips makes him think he's going to kiss him, but then Edward startles, remembering the time. "Oh fuck, the movie! We don't want to miss this!"

Hastening inside, they buy their tickets and sit down in the dark just as the last preview is over.

Jasper doesn't really get a chance to remember he's on his first date except for some hand holding. He's so engrossed in what's happening on the screen. When the movie ends and the lights come on, they sit quietly for a few minutes, processing the experience. Edward grabs his hand while they walk out still in a daze.

"Wow, that was intense!" he reflects.

"Yeah, it was great!" Edward agrees, checking his watch. "Hey, do you want to come home with me and look at my baseball card collection?" he jokes.

Jasper swallows down the sudden nervousness blossoming in his chest, nodding.

"Great!" Edward grins at him, stroking his hand. As they walk up the stairs to the loft, they pass a bicycle hanging on the wall, and Edward warns him, "Sam might be a little scary looking and he doesn't easily trust new people. His previous owners had him as a cute puppy, but they didn't want him anymore when he grew up, so I adopted him from a shelter."

Jasper shakes his head, uttering angrily, "Stupid people! I hope he's not hurting anymore. He isn't, is he?"

"No, this was years ago and he has a good life with me. When I travel, he stays with Carlisle and his family. There's only the one thing left; it takes some time for him to trust new people."

Arriving at Edward's door, Jasper hears barking from inside, but hey, he trusts the other man.

Edward opens the door, quickly grabbing Sam by the collar, and rubbing the dog's back in greeting. "Hi, buddy! So nice to see you again!" He turns to Jasper, still holding the collar. "This is my good friend, Jasper. Be a good boy now, will you?"

Sam is a huge black dog, staring at Jasper with his tail rigid, and he can't help but feel a little intimidated. Edward holds Sam tightly, patting him, and encourages Jasper, "Go on, you can pet him. He's going to be a good dog, aren't you, my big wolf?"

"Ah." Jasper breathes as he takes a step closer with his hand raised to let the big beast sniff at him.

He's sure he'll be missing a limb by the time he's out of here, but Sam actually lets him pet him before he wriggles free from Edward's grip and goes straight to Jasper's crotch to sniff at him. Jasper giggles, not used to dogs and tries to push his snout away.

"He's just saying hello," Edward tells him fondly.

"Yeah, all right." Jasper gives in, petting Sam some more, trying his best to make a good impression. Whether on Edward or the dog, he's not sure. They're a package deal, he supposes.

Edward walks to the kitchen. "Do you want some water?" he asks, his voice muffled by his head inside the opened fridge.

"All right." Jasper takes off his shoes by the door and tries to free himself from the dog, but he's followed closely into the kitchen where Edward hands him a bottle of water.

"Let me show you around," Edward suggests, taking a sip of his own water.

Jasper follows him into the other room where a desk is placed against the side overflowing with papers. On the other, there's a couch with a small table. The last wall is filled with a shelf bursting with books and magazines.

"The living room, obviously," Edward tells him unnecessarily and points to a basket in the corner. "There's Sam's bed." A long wooden ladder leads up to a sleeping loft. "Up there's my bed." Edward looks around. "It's not much, but it's bright with sunlight and high under the ceiling."

"I love it," Jasper says truthfully, following Edward to the couch where he sits down beside him.

Sam's by Jasper's legs, not going to his owner or his bed like he expected. The dog stares up at him, tongue out of his mouth, and Jasper feels a little uncomfortable, but then pets the dog and, like that was what he waited for, Sam rests his head on Jasper's knee.

"Hm." Edward observes his dog. "He doesn't usually take to people very quickly." He smiles at Jasper thoughtfully.

"It's just the famous Whitlock charm. We're known to be irresistible."

Edward leans back on the couch, grinning. "Yeah? Tell me about your family. Are there any more Whitlocks in the awesome town of Forks?"

Jasper grins back. "There's only my mother left now in our house there. My sister lives here in Seattle with her boyfriend, Emmett."

"And your father?" Edward wonders, naturally.

Jasper has the answer ready. "He died when I was six. How about your family? You mentioned a brother?"

A fond look crosses Edward's face. "Yes, my half brother, Carlisle—he's ten years older than me—and my sister-in-law, Esme. They live here in Seattle, too, with my niece, Bree. She turned five last winter."

Jasper sips from his bottle. "I hope Rosalie and Emmett have kids some day so I can be an uncle. It's obviously the only way we get to pass the awesome Whitlock genes on."

"Why is that?"

"Yeah, well ..." he gestures to himself. "I'm gay?"

"So?" Edward looks puzzled at him. "You can't have kids because you're gay?"

"Well, I haven't actually thought about it that much."

"Of course," Edward says, patting his knee. "You're just eighteen." He smirks at him.

"Hey! Don't tease." Jasper slaps his hand playfully.

"I'm actually serious about it, though. Why can't you have kids because you're gay?"

"I guess I can ..."

"Sure you can, and I'm sure you will. Fight for your rights and stand for what you believe in."

They smile at each other, both familiar with that already. Then Edward's gaze flicks down to Jasper's lips. "I'm sorry to tell you that I lied about having a baseball card collection. Can I kiss you to make it up to you?"

Jasper looks down at the dog with his head still in his lap. "Uhm, what about Sam?"

"What about him?"

"It's a little weird kissing you with his head in my lap."

"Okay. I'm just so used to him being everywhere. Luckily, he can't climb those stairs and watch my bed activities!" Jasper swallows hard and Edward notices. He recognizes Jasper's reaction and his pupils become wider in seconds. "Are you imagining my bed activities right now?"

"Uhm, yeah?"

"What are you thinking about?" Edward whispers, stroking Jasper's palm.

Jasper can feel it all the way from his hand down to his feet. When he answers, his voice is merely a croak. "I'm thinking about you lying there and what you've done on that mattress."

"Like?"

Oh my, why does Edward have to make him say it out loud?

"I'm picturing you stroking yourself?" he admits like a question.

"Yeah? I do that," Edward mumbles, leaning his face closer. "I've often thought about you this last year up there."

"You have?"

"Uh hum," Edward confirms, then leans so close their noses brush against each other. "What about you? Have you thought about me?"

Jasper finds it hard to get the words out. "While I jerk off?"

"Yeah," Edward breathes over his face. "I imagine you jerking off in my bed up there. With me watching you." He tilts his head to the stairs.

Jasper groans. "Fuck."

Then Edward's lips, wet with water, are finally on his and Jasper kisses him back and with tongue right away. Edward's exploring his mouth, and Jasper's trying to give back as good as he gets. His head is buzzing when Edward pushes him down on the couch, lying with one leg between his thighs.

Sam breathes in Jasper's ear, but Edward stops kissing for a minute and tells him to go to his bed, which he does immediately. Then Edward turns his face to Jasper's again, staring down at him with dark, half-lidded eyes. He's leaning on his elbows with his hands on either side of Jasper's head.

"What to do, what to do," he muses, grinning as Jasper's anticipation builds in his stomach. His legs would have been shaking if Edward hadn't pushed them down like he did.

"Kiss me?" Jasper asks breathlessly.

"Okay, that's a simple request to respond to." Edward smiles, brushing his nose by Jasper's, kissing his forehead, eyelids, and then licking his lips and placing a brief peck on them. He brushes his finger over Jasper's bottom lip, watching as it slips inside Jasper's willing mouth. "Yeah, I want inside."

Jasper closes his mouth around his finger, sucking lightly and tasting the salty skin.

"But not tonight," Edward grunts with finality, looking up at Jasper's eyes, then he withdraws his finger and leans down kissing him harder than before.

Jasper presses his chest up against Edward's, trying to get closer, and as he finds the warm and soft skin under Edward's t-shirt, it urges on his need to feel him all over.

Edward's hand is on Jasper's chest, stroking over the fabric, down to where his t-shirt ends, and pushing his fingers underneath it.

Jasper's so hard. He tries to breathe through his nose while he kisses Edward back, but he pants into his mouth. He wants to grind his cock against Edward's thigh, bucking up against him, and he barely manages to hold his hips still.

Edward's kissing is turning sloppy. He moans into his mouth and his hand roams all over Jasper's chest while he places the other behind his head. Then he starts grinding lightly down on Jasper, who is close to coming.

Jasper can't do anything else other than let himself go. There's no way around it and he's coming inside his pants, bucking hard twice against Edward's crotch. He presses his head back, squeezing his eyes shut from the strength of his orgasm and it takes a long time before he's able to relax his body, but then all his muscles give in and he sinks down under Edward's embrace.

He opens his eyes and sees Edward staring down at him, his gaze intense and dark, and his breathing shallow. "Wow!"

He tries not to think of how fast he came or be embarrassed about it. Who wouldn't, right?

"You were really turned on, huh?" Edward smiles at him.

"Mm, yeah."

"Don't be embarrassed about it," Edward whispers. "It was really hot!" He strokes Jasper's face. "You'll last longer next time."

Jasper gulps. "Next time …." he trails off.

"Yeah. You want there to be a next time, right?"

Eagerly he utters, "Yes!"

"Good." Edward smiles, getting up and drags Jasper up by his hand.

He nods towards Edward's crotch. "What about you?"

"I'm fine," Edward says softly. "I'll jerk off alone in my bed later thinking about how you looked when you came."

Jasper punches his arm, grinning. "Idiot!"

Edward laughs. "Hey, I mean it!"

"Yeah, sure you do," Jasper says in disbelief.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you Jasper1863Hale and Karenec for pre-reading, and Sue273 for betaing. Any remaining mistakes are my own.
> 
> 'Svefn-g-englar' by Sigur Ros (skip to 1:30): youtube.com/watch?v=zQ5Grncdjlc

The weekend of their hiking trip is warm and unusually dry for Washington State. The bus station in Seattle is swarming with travelers and exhaust fumes where Jasper's waiting with his backpack filled with camping equipment.

He's nervous as it is and, glancing at his watch, he sees Edward is ten minutes late. What would it mean if he doesn't show?

The last week and a half, they've texted back and forth but not spoken or met, so it's not like they know each other well yet.

There's a hand on his shoulder.

"Hey!" Edward calls, suddenly beside him, red-faced and sweaty. "I'm sorry we're late! Do you have everything you need? I remembered our tent."

"Hi! I hope so." Jasper feels relieved, but not sure if he should hug Edward like he wants to. Instead, he reaches down to pat Sam, who greets Jasper by sniffing his crotch and wagging his tail happily.

Edward grabs Jasper's hand, smiling as they find their bus and seats in the middle where there's room for Sam.

The drive takes about two hours and when they arrive at their destination, the road sign is amusingly called Nevergiveup Road.

Sam runs around on his long leash, barking happily at all kinds of interesting new smells as they walk to the end of the road to find their trail.

The Olympic National Park is huge, with lots of opportunities to hike and camp from the coastline to the mountains. Being from Forks, Jasper is mostly familiar with the western side and he's also been around the Hoh Rainforest in the north. He's never been this far east before.

Edward gets out a map and compass, leading them into the forest trail while holding Sam's leash tightly, preventing him from running off by himself and scaring animals. His dog seems to love it, sniffing every tree, barking at birds and small animals only he can find.

The forest is dark and green with trees covered with moss, but drier than other parts of the Olympic Peninsula Jasper's been to. The trail is clearly marked though, and broad enough for them to walk side by side.

It's been a while since Jasper's had the opportunity to go hiking, but now that he's here, he feels the familiar calmness creep up on him.

They don't walk very far before they get to the place Edward planned to put up their tent. Among the trees is a clearing with a picnic table and a fire pit, and little trace of other hikers. There's no one else around and it's silent aside from the sounds of the forest.

After putting up their tent and eating a simple dinner made on Jasper's camping stove, they pack the rest of their food back in bear canisters and sit on the bench with cups of tea. Edward has tied Sam to a tree with a long leash and the dog is lying on the forest ground sleeping beside them.

"I remember the first time I saw you," Edward says, stroking Jasper's neck and playing with his hair, sending tingles down his spine. Jasper's taken off his hiking boots and sits wiggling his bare toes.

"Yeah?" Jasper asks, remembering it as clearly as if it were yesterday: Edward walking past him with his long dreads down his back, his sweaty chest as they held the course in the forest, and his naked body in the shower afterwards.

"Uh-huh," Edward breathes, leaning closer to inspect the strands he's playing with. "At the camp, I noticed you right away when we talked about the program and I was told you were the one who was going to help me at the course the next day."

Edward kisses the back of Jasper's neck right where it's the most sensitive. "I was with Garrett, of course, but I still saw you. I'd never cheat on my boyfriend, but I still had eyes."

Jasper turns his head a little to look at him. Edward has a smile lingering at the side of his mouth, his eyes glancing sideways playfully at him.

"Well, I noticed you, too," Jasper admits as he reaches up to stroke Edward's chin. "I had this huge crush on you from the start and I nearly died when you came into the shower! I had to run out in the end, hiding my boner and jerked off in the bathroom."

Edward grins at him. "Yeah, thinking about it now, I realize I must have gone to shower because I knew you were there, and later, I was jealous of Riley."

Jasper shudders. Now he has Edward here by himself in a huge forest with no one around but a sleeping dog.

"What are you thinking about?" The other man pinches at the sensitive skin under his knee.

Jasper whispers, "I want you."

Edward stares at him, continuing to stroke Jasper. "Please say I worked hard enough already. All I can think about is you."

"You have no idea how difficult it was for me to turn you down," Jasper says, his voice wavering. His whole body is attuned to the man beside him and the heat radiating from where they are skin against skin.

"Then don't turn me down now," Edward whispers, tilting his head to the side and leaning closer until their mouths are an inch apart.

Anticipation floods through Jasper. There is no way he can let this man down. "Never again," he says. Then Edward's soft lips find his, brushing them together before Jasper feels wetness from the other man's tongue and he opens his mouth.

Their mugs fall to the forest ground as they forget about everything else other than feeling skin and exploring each other's mouths.

Edward places a last peck on Jasper's lips before he sinks down on his knees in front of him, stroking over the hard bulge in Jasper's shorts. He reaches for the hem of the shorts and slides it up Jasper's thigh, finding his briefs wet with pre-come.

Edward gazes up at Jasper, his mouth slack while stroking his fingers over the other man's cock and balls, separated only by thin fabric. "Would it be a good idea to let you come once first?"

"Oh, my God," Jasper breathes, nodding. "Yes, probably." He watches as Edward slowly slides the zipper down, keeping eye contact as he pops the button open and pulls Jasper's shorts down.

Jasper lifts his ass to help as he looks around, getting self-conscious about wearing minimal clothes outside.

"Hey, don't worry," Edward reassures him. "There is no one else here. Just you and me." His fingers are at the waistband of his briefs and Jasper swallows hard.

"Only Sam," he corrects, his voice wavering.

"Yeah, but he's sleeping," Edward whispers. "So you'll have to keep very still while I finally taste you."

Jasper shifts around. "I don't think I can be quiet."

"Have you had a blow job before?" Edward asks, his mouth blowing hot air on the wet spot on Jasper's briefs as he speaks.

He shakes his head, trying his best to hold still while gripping on the bench.

"Hand job?"

"Once."

"Riley?"

Jasper nods.

"I'll bet I can do it better than him."

He gulps thickly. "I'll bet you can."

Edward grins at him, leaning in close to brush his nose up the fabric still covering Jasper's hard cock.

He breathes heavily. Edward has his face against his crotch! It will take very little work from the other man's side to get him to orgasm.

Edward's eyes are dark with want as he looks up and Jasper shudders as his briefs are slowly dragged down, the waistband pulled under his balls.

"Fuck! You're killing me here," Jasper utters as Edward just breathes at the tip of his cock. Holding it between his fingers, he slowly pulls the foreskin completely down before staring up at Jasper and sticks his tongue out to lick at the most sensitive spot.

Jasper gasps, panting as Edward finally takes him into his warm mouth, sucking lightly on the head. His whole body jerks. "Edward!"

Edward grabs the base of his cock. "Yes? Do you want me to stop?" he asks playfully.

"Don't you dare!" Jasper grabs the hair at the back of his head in a light grip. "More!" he demands, pushing Edward's open and willing mouth towards his cock again where he takes him in deep.

Edward retreats to lick over the slit, sucks him down again, before lifting up.

"Oh, God, Edward," Jasper rasps as his whole body shakes, bucking his hips up to meet the waiting mouth before he comes down Edward's throat without any warning at all.

His head is swimming when he opens his eyes embarrassed. Edward just laughs at him, drying come from his lips with the back of his hand and licks it up, watching Jasper's face for his reaction.

He launches himself toward the other man's mouth kissing him deeply. He's so turned on. "Oh, fuck, I want you! What do we do now?" he pants, pulling his briefs over his softening dick.

Edward rises up and takes his hand. "Let's go to bed."

It's starting to get dark as they open the tent. When Jasper bends down to follow inside, he sees Edward's found a flashlight from his backpack and is hanging it from the roof.

He hurries to close the zipper so no mosquitoes get inside. Their mats are rolled out beside each other with sleeping bags on top, the surface already a little cold.

Jasper sits on his knees waiting, his heart thundering in his chest. He dries his clammy hands on his t-shirt, watching Edward getting rid of his own shorts.

When he reaches for the hem of his t-shirt, Jasper stops him.

"What?" Edward asks, his face worried.

"I want to undress you," Jasper hurries to explain.

Edward smiles, sitting still on his knees. "All right."

Jasper reaches for the hem of his t-shirt, pulling it slowly up as Edward lifts his arms. His sweaty hair sticks up in all directions. Wide, dark eyes follow his movements silently as Jasper places his hands on his chest and strokes up over his shoulders and down his arms.

Edward's briefs are tenting out just like Jasper's. Palming him through the thin material, he feels the other man's heat radiating from inside.

Everything they do is Jasper's first time. "I know you've been in at least one relationship. You have a lot more experience than me."

Edward lays his hand over Jasper's. "Don't worry. Do what feels natural and comfortable to you and I can guarantee you I'll like it."

"Okay." Jasper smiles at him, sliding his hands up Edward's chest once more to feel the warmth and smoothness. "This is probably sounding cheesy, but I think you are amazing. You are so gorgeous." He's sure he is blushing and hopes Edward doesn't see it in the dim light.

Edward lifts his chin up, their eyes locking. "Hey," he whispers. "I think you are beautiful. I can't believe you're here with me. I want you so much; to touch you, kiss you and see you fall apart. I want to get to know you and have you tell me your secrets."

Jasper stares at him. "You want all that?"

"Yeah! I really like you!"

"I really like you, too, Edward."

Then he kisses the other man, doing the best he can at the art. He licks his mouth, kisses his eyelids and face, and places light pecks at his neck, tasting the saltiness gathered there.

Edward's head falls back while clinging to him. "Fuck! Are you sure you've not done this before?"

Jasper hums, smiling against his neck. "No."

"You're so good at it. Feel how hard you make me." He grabs Jasper's hand, pushing it inside his briefs making them moan when he holds Edward's hard cock for the first time.

Looking down at his hand in the other man's underwear, he wants more. "I need to see you."

"Yeah," Edward answers gruffly, getting hastily rid of his briefs as Jasper throws his own aside.

"Oh, God, you're so sexy," Jasper moans as he takes in all of the naked temptation in front of him. Edward holds his own cock in his hand, tugging lightly at it as his eyes rake over Jasper's form.

"I want to do that." Jasper shudders, taking over the grip on the other man. He strokes from his balls and up to the full tip where clear liquid has gathered. Smearing it around with his thumb, he takes it in his mouth and licks the salty fluid off. "Mmm, you taste so good."

"Fuck!" Edward stares at him, his eyes dark with want as he attacks Jasper's mouth.

Kissing Jasper deeply, Edward grabs his ass cheeks in his hands and presses their groins hard together. Jasper loses his balance and falls down on top of the other man, laughing into the kiss. He experimentally grinds his hard-on against Edward's.

"Oh, God," he pants. Grabbing both of them in his hand, he fucks into the tight grip as Edward sucks on his throat making filthy sounds in the cramped up place.

"Damn, you are going to make me come in your hand!" Edward groans against his neck, his voice gruff. The sound of how turned on the other man is makes Jasper jut against him, unable to make it last. Then he feels Edward's fingers between his ass cheeks, pushing against his tight hole and he's done for.

Coming once earlier didn't help Jasper's stamina much, but he doesn't care from where he's lying on top of a sweaty Edward blissfully tired and satisfied.

Edward turns them over, sitting on his knees over his groin as he pulls at his own cock, slippery with Jasper's come. A slick sound fills the tent mingling with their heavy breathing.

Jasper slides his hands up the Edward's thighs seeing the wet head disappear. Edward hunches forward, squeezing his eyes shut as his cock shoots long, white strands on Jasper's stomach. Some reaches Jasper's chin and he wipes it off, then tastes it with his tongue.

"Holy fuck," Edward gasps, falling down on his sleeping bag.

Jasper turns to his side, combing his fingers into Edward's hair and watches as he opens his eyes. He leans in, kissing him softly before he retreats, smiling. "Tomorrow."

Edward reaches for wet wipes in the side pocket of his backpack, cleaning them both up before they get come on their sleeping bags. Jasper shudders as his soft dick gets cleaned by the cold wipe.

"Hm?" Edward mumbles after he lets Sam inside their tent for the night and they get comfortable holding each other.

Jasper yawns, covering his mouth with the back of his hand. "Tomorrow," he repeats sleepily. "We'll talk about our secrets."


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you Jasper1863Hale and Karenec for pre-reading, and Sue273 for betaing. Any remaining mistakes are my own.
> 
> 'Scotland's Shame' by Mogwai: youtube.com/watch?v=TWGIv-gQUKI

Jasper wakes up with a mouthful of fur and a hard cock inside the briefs he'd pulled on while half-asleep last night.

Opening one eye, he sees Sam has made room for himself between him and Edward sometime during the night. He pushes himself away from the dog's too-hot body and opens the zipper, letting fresh air flood inside.

He gets out, stretching as he squints at the rare sunny morning. Finding the stove, he starts pouring water in the coffee pot when Sam's snout appears in the tent opening and Jasper gets a lapful of fur. Quickly, he grabs Sam's collar and connects him to his leash.

"Hey, buddy," he whispers, scratching the dog's back. "Let's make some breakfast."

Today will be the day, he nods to himself, letting a match set fire to the primus gas for water to boil as his mind wanders. Thinking about the things he and Edward did last night does nothing to make his morning wood go away. He adjusts himself while trying to think of anything else. They're on a hiking trip for God's sake; there must be loads of interesting things to study on the trails they'll find today. It's all Edward's fault giving him a one-track mind.

The water boils, making the pot whistle loudly before Jasper finally registers it.

Serving Sam some fresh cold water, Jasper sits down on the bench. Sipping his coffee and while eating his breakfast, he listens to the dog drinking and enjoys the quietness of the forest.

It's been a long time since he'd started thinking about what he'd wanted to do with his life. Perhaps it had been with him since he was a little boy, following his father around everywhere and going on short hiking trips with him. His father had died too early for a man with so much spark and passion for life, but Jasper is fully intent on trying his best to follow in his footsteps. And he thinks he might have found the perfect life companion for it.

His parents were only nineteen years old when they'd had Rose and gotten married. They'd had eight years together and according to his mother, the two of them had been meant for each other.

"How could you know?" he'd asked his mother.

"Because we both had the same goals with our lives," she'd told him, steady and sure. "We both had the same way of looking at life and wanted the same things."

It had sounded strange to Jasper when he was younger—those things couldn't be of much importance. As a young boy and teenager, it had not been easy for him to come to terms with himself and find his way in life, but now he was proud to admit to himself that it was not really that hard to see after all.

Sure, he's still only eighteen years old, it's not like he knows everything he wants yet, except his main goals in life. Those are set. Jasper can feel them in his gut. They are what makes him him.

There's a rustling inside the tent. A groaning as someone wakes up and tries to get clothes on, and a scruffy-looking face peeks out at him.

"Morning," Edward tells him gruffly as he gets out, wearing only his briefs. Jasper takes a moment to admire the other man as he sips his still-hot coffee and Edward pours his own cup, smiling at him. "Slept well?"

"Mhmm." Jasper smiles back. He moves to make room for him on the bench, placing his arm around the other man's neck as he sits down, pulling him closer, and kissing his chin. "Where are we going today? Anything interesting on our way?"

Edward glances down to his cup, his ears reddening. "Uhm," he mumbles.

Jasper stares at him. "What?"

"I've not really planned any further than this."

"I don't understand," Jasper admits, placing his cup down on the picnic table to give Edward his full attention.

Edward turns to face him. "Well," he says, clearing his voice. "I hoped we could leave the tent here until tomorrow and take a few walks with Sam, but apart from for that, just stay here?"

Jasper searches Edward's green eyes. They reflect the forest colors around them perfectly.

"All right," he agrees, understanding exactly what Edward means. "Let's eat breakfast first, though."

Edward grins at him. "Yes, you need all the strength you can get if you want to keep up with me!"

Jasper elbows him and Edward sloshes some coffee on the ground. "Hey!" he laughs.

After breakfast is eaten, Jasper gets to hold Sam's leash as they explore the nearby terrain. Sam runs around, sniffing every tree and barks happily at them. When Jasper looks back at Edward walking behind him, he sees a gorgeous smile that warms his insides.

Edward grabs Jasper's hand and he stops, turning to face the red-haired man. Edward's gaze flicks down to Jasper's mouth and he takes a step closer for them to kiss. Sam gets to them immediately, squeezing himself in between their legs and they part while laughing at the playful dog.

Finding their way hand in hand back towards the tent, Edward's thumb strokes on the inside of Jasper's, sending tingles deliciously through his body.

Placing their boots outside the tent, Jasper takes off his t-shirt, shorts, and briefs as he watches Edward find the things they'll need in his backpack. He lies down on his back over his sleeping bag, stroking his dick leisurely.

When Edward turns around and sees him, he lets go of the items in his hand and drops down on his knees by Jasper's feet. "I'll make it really good," he promises, his voice gruff as his gaze slides over Jasper's body. The intensity of it feels like the other man is really touching him.

"I know you will," Jasper tells him softly.

Edward smiles warmly at the show of trust. "Good," he whispers. Leaning over his body, he kisses every part his mouth finds while crawling upwards, placing light pecks on Jasper's burning skin. Up his legs, over his stomach, licking nipples until they're tight and sensitive. He nibbles Jasper's neck and chest, until Jasper's gasping and writhing under the attention.

"Oh God!" he groans, closing his eyes as he grabs the hair at the back of Edward's head, trying to lead the other man's mouth where he wants it the most.

"Open your eyes," Edward whispers, and he does. "I want your eyes open at all times. I want you to see everything I do to you."

"Fuck," Jasper moans, bucking his hips up at hearing this.

Edward grins as he reaches out to find lube. Jasper gulps thickly as he sees him pouring it on his fingertips.

"Have you ever pushed your fingers inside yourself?" Edward asks, his eyes now between Jasper's thighs.

"Oh, God, yes," he admits, hearing his blood pulsing in his ears. "Yes, I have."

"How many?"

Groaning, Jasper tells him, "I don't know! Three?"

Edward smiles at him. "All right. Pull up your knees and spread them."

Jasper thinks he would probably be embarrassed by such a command coming from any other man, but being with Edward feels so right. He feels like he's always waited for him, that it couldn't be anyone else other than Edward to take his virginity.

He spreads his legs as wide as they can go, his focus on Edward as he sees his eyes turn dark. When they flick up to meet his, they appear glossed over, glazed with lust.

"I want you so much," Edward rasps, stroking up and down Jasper's inner thigh.

"I want you, too."

Edward licks his lips. "Good," he mumbles, sliding his lubed-up fingers in between Jasper's ass cheeks, probing around the tight opening.

Looking around, Edward grabs his hoodie from the top of his backpack. "Lift up!"

Jasper raises his hips and his cock slaps against his stomach when he lies down again, his crotch higher than before.

"Much better," Edward mumbles, sounding satisfied, as his slick fingers once more finds Jasper's hole. "Fuck, you're tight!"

Jasper moans as Edward pushes a finger inside, working it in and out before adding another one. Jasper stops being conscious about everything around them except Edward's gaze and the need in his lower stomach spreading through his whole body as Edward's fingers work on his tight muscle.

He bucks his hips up, trying to meet Edward's hand, needing to be full, get it harder, anything. Then finally, Edward says in a voice Jasper almost can't recognize, "You're ready."

He whines, "I'm so ready!"

Grinning at him, Edward grabs a condom and rolls it onto his shaft. Leaning on his hand, he kisses Jasper once before he retreats, staring at the spot where he pushes the blunt tip of his cock slowly into him.

It burns, but he wants Edward so much. He's so worked up, he can take a little discomfort.

"Fuck, Jasper," Edward groans as he watches where they're connected. Then, fully inside, he holds himself still as his eyes search out Jasper's.

"Are you all right?" he pants, sweat running down his forehead, and his chest gleaming.

"Yes," Jasper replies, feeling fuller than his own fingers could ever make him.

Edward lies over him, leaning on his elbows as his hips slowly buck against Jasper's, fucking into him leisurely while showing his control and need to be careful. The good feeling from earlier returns in full force and Jasper moans into Edward's mouth as their lips meet sloppily.

He feels consumed by Edward. The man is everywhere; his scent, his skin over him, in him as he starts to go faster sensing when Jasper's ready for it.

Jasper groans against Edward, holding onto his back while pinching his eyes shut.

"No," Edward reminds him. "Keep your eyes open. I want to see you come while I'm inside you."

"Oh, God … oh, God," Jasper pants, opening his eyes to stare into Edward's. He grabs his half-hard dick and pulls at it before his hand gets flicked away.

Edward gets up on his knees, fucking slowly into him while watching as he enters and retreats almost all the way out before thrusting deep back in.

"Fuck, you feel so good," he groans, gripping Jasper's cock in his fist, tugging at it quickly to get him fully hard again.

Jasper pants as the intensity grows, feeling he's close to coming.

"Yeah, that's it," Edward encourages him. "Look at me when you come. Know that it's my cock, my hand that makes you orgasm, taking you for the first time."

And Jasper's done for. He can't look away from Edward's face as the burning reaches its peak until it tips over and he's bucking into Edward's hand, coming all over it. "Oh, fuck! Damn!" he curses from the intensity, the consuming feeling of having an orgasm when he's got someone inside of him. He has Edward.

Everything's blurry when he opens his eyes to find Edward's face smiling over him. "Hey, you're back," he grins triumphantly.

"Mhm." He smiles in return. Then Edward starts pushing into him again and Jasper's kissing him, holding him tight as Edward fucks his way to his own orgasm, coming inside of Jasper in the condom, groaning into his mouth.

Edward starts to get a little heavy on top of him, so Jasper pushes lightly at him, rolling him over to his side. He feels Edward's soft dick slipping out, and they lay side by side staring at each other.

Edward lifts his hand, stroking Jasper's chin and down his neck making goosebumps appear on his skin. "How do you feel?" he whispers, looking concerned.

Jasper shifts around, getting the feeling back in his body while taking a full inventory. "I'm all right, I think."

Edward smiles at him. "Good."

Kissing and cuddling, they stay in the tent for a while before Edward says, "Let's make some food and go for a walk." He whispers against Jasper's ear, "Then I want you to fuck me."

He swallows thickly, his eyes on Edward as he gets up and grabs his shorts. "Really?"

Edward looks surprised at him. "You don't want to?"

"Oh, yeah, I do," Jasper grins at him.

Jasper is sore in new places as he walks along the forest trail, holding Sam on his leash with Edward walking behind them.

"How did you become interested in saving the forest?" Edward asks him lightly. And perhaps it's actually an easy question for him.

Jasper finds the words he's thought about so many times. "It's something I inherited from my father. He died when I was six, but the best memories in my life are of him and me walking in the forest in Forks. It's the place I feel closest to him now."

Edward's smile reaches his eyes. "That's a good reason."

"I could show you sometime, if you'd like," Jasper suggests without letting the other man know he's the first one to be invited. "There's a certain spot I go to when I want to feel near to him; where I go when I need him."

"Sounds good," Edward agrees as he ties Sam's leash to the tree beside their tent. If he understands the importance of the invite, he doesn't show it. Instead, he reaches out his hand for Jasper to take and the serious expression on Edward's face makes him swallow hard.

"Let's go inside," Jasper says, gesturing with his head. He sees on Edward's face that he knows what he really means. "I want you to feel as sore as I do when we sit on the bus on our way home tomorrow evening."

Edward grabs him before he gets away. "I want that, too. I want everything with you."


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you Jasper1863Hale and Karenec for pre-reading, and Sue273 for betaing. Any remaining mistakes are my own.
> 
> I'm also very grateful for all the support I get from my girls BregoMellonNin and 35Nanou.
> 
> Song: 'Kindred' by Burial: youtube.com/watch?v=wC16FJTI6XM

Chapter 15 - Two Months After Their Hiking Trip

A double date to an all-ages bar is the first time Jasper and Edward go out with their friends as a couple.

Bella sighs while tying up her boots when she notices Jasper drying his sweaty palms on his cargo pants.

"Oh, for fuck's sake, will you stop worrying?" she says, finishing up her last boot. "You know he wants to be with you, right? He's not you left after getting what he wanted and you have nothing to worry about!"

Groaning, Jasper combs his fingers through his black hair. "But he could do so much better than me!" He slips into his jacket then grabs his cellphone and keys on his way out.

"Oh, my God, Jas! Now you're being an idiot!" She looks at him exasperated before rising up, pulling on her jacket and flipping her long blue hair over it as she follows him out the door. "From the moment I saw you, I thought you were an attractive guy. The only reason you've not had a boyfriend before is because you lived in tiny Forks. It had nothing to do with you!"

She grins at him, patting his chin. "Edward is a very smart man, snatching you up before any of the college hunks get to you."

Jasper punches her shoulder lightly as she sneaks past him down the stairs, laughing as he runs after her. "Now who's being an idiot?"

Turns out Bella's right, luckily. The minute Edward sees Jasper in the crowd, he waves them over to the table he and Jacob occupy, kissing him happily in greeting. Edward holds him close, sitting down with an arm around Jasper's shoulder. Bella grins at them after kissing Jacob on the cheek. She sits down on her boyfriend's lap, trying to take a sip of his beer, but he holds it out of her reach.

"Do you want us kicked out?" Jasper thinks he hears Jacob say, but it gets drowned out by the band starting to play.

It's not until the set is over that they get to talk to each other again. Jasper leans contently into Edward, sipping at his coke, and feels excitement about what's to come.

Edward rests his hand on Jasper's thigh, whispering in his ear, "Want to come over to my place tonight?"

Jacob interrupts his answer. "So, have you taken lover boy shopping yet?" he asks Edward, making air-quotes around the word 'shopping'.

Bella slaps her boyfriend's arm. "Jake! Rude much?"

Edward moves his annoyed gaze from Jacob to Jasper, his demeanor softening. "Uhm, no."

"What's this about?" Bella asks, looking from Jacob to Edward, then settles on Jasper questioningly.

He just shrugs at her, snuggling closer to Edward. "Did you mention something about tonight?" he grins, ignoring Jacob.

"Let's get more to drink," Edward says dismissively as he gets up, but Jasper stops him by placing a hand on his chest.

"Can't we leave and go to your place instead?" he asks softly, licking his lips. "I can't stop thinking about your loft bed."

Edward's pupils dilate immediately, his green gaze at Jasper's mouth as he nods once, turning to the crowd ready to leave. Jasper waves back at Bella, mouthing 'bye'. She grins, waving before turning to Jacob, giving him her stern look which Jasper knows all too well.

He chuckles, letting Edward lead the way outside where they stop to zip up their jackets before Edward takes his hand again and they walk down the block. Around the corner, Edward stops, pushing Jasper against the brick wall.

"Jacob gets on my nerves." Edward's hot breath washes over him, and the scent of beer and good memories hit Jasper as he focuses on his boyfriend's lips.

"Bella will let him have it, don't worry," Jasper tells him softly.

Edward sighs. "I probably should have warned her about how Jacob can be."

He looks apologetic and Jasper can't have that, so he grabs his boyfriend's jacket, pulling him in.

"I know Bella; there's nothing you can say to her that will change her mind about Jacob. She needs to find out for herself and then we'll be there for her." Edward nods, his eyes searching Jasper's. "Now, take me to your loft," he whispers.

Edward smiles, leaning in, and Jasper expects a kiss when suddenly he retreats, grinning at him.

"Later," he promises, grabbing Jasper's hand and leads the way down the street to his building.

It's not too far to walk before Edward fishes his keys out of his pocket and they walk up the stairs, passing the bike which hangs on the wall, and Jasper hears Sam's barking from inside the door.

"He'll be happy to see you," Edward comments fondly, opening the door and grabbing his dog's collar immediately. "Say hello to Jas."

Sam goes straight for Jasper's crotch, making him squirm before he bends to scratch the dog behind his ears.

Edward walks into the kitchen, placing his keys on the counter. Jasper hears him making small talk with his dog who follows him. Jasper sits down on the stool to untie his boots. When Jasper walks into the kitchen, Sam's just getting fresh water in his bowl.

"Hey, I want to show you something," Edward says, turning to the refrigerator. "Open it."

Jasper stares at him.

"Open!" Edward repeats.

"Is this like open sesame?" Jasper asks, grinning. "Because if it is, it's not working."

Edward shakes his head, smiling before opening the fridge himself. The shelves are filled with food and Jasper has no idea what he's being shown. He raises his eyebrows expectantly, turning to his boyfriend.

"Well?" Edward makes a general gesture towards the fridge. "See anything unusual?"

Jasper's eyes never budge from his boyfriend. "Nope! No treasures," he jokes. He closes the door for him as it occurs to him. "Does this have anything to do with what Jacob was rambling about?"

Edward turns, walking into the living room. Jasper follows, sitting down beside him on the couch.

"Jacob's always been very competitive and he jumps at the chance to mock me," Edward says, seeming somewhat annoyed.

"Okay." Jasper nods slowly.

"Almost everything in my fridge I've found in dumpsters. I raid grocery store dumpsters after they close and take with me what they consider trash, but in reality is perfectly fine food. It can be crooked vegetables or dented cans, or food that's passed the expiration date, but still perfectly fine. Do you know that about half the food in western countries gets dumped on the way from the producers to the food table? I know it's a drop in the ocean, but I don't want to ride the consumption wave."

Jasper nods, agreeing. "I've heard about freeganism. You reduce the trash and action at a micro level in your daily life."

Edward smiles at him. "Exactly."

Jasper grins. "So can I come with you next time?"

Edward's eyes light up and he stares at him for a second. "Do you know how perfect you are?"

Jasper's grin gets wider. "Nope! I guess you'll have to show me."

Then Edward does just that. He grips Jasper's t-shirt, pulling him close and there's tongues, hands and moans. Jasper tries to get rid of both his and Edward's clothes at the same time, but his boyfriend's hands distract him, making him forget what he was doing.

Suddenly, Edward's lips are away from his skin and, for a second, everything's wrong in the world as he says, "Get off!"

Jasper stares at him in bewilderment when Edward gets up, half-clothed with red, just-kissed lips. "Sorry, I think we should head up to my bed. Sam just licked my butt!"

Laughing, Jasper follows him, jumping on one foot while shucking his jeans and climbing the wooden ladder, following Edward's fine ass.

Upstairs, there's only room for a broad mattress, a stack of books, and a digital alarm clock.

Jasper sits on his knees, watching Edward as he pushes his books off the bed, shoving the covers to the side and, at last, meeting Jasper's gaze. Edward cups the other man's head, stroking his cheeks with his thumbs as Jasper watches him intensely, making anticipation fill his body.

"Jasper," Edward whispers.

"Yeah."

"I love you."

Jasper doesn't doubt the sincerity in Edward's words as they fill him with contentment and joy.

He pulls off his t-shirt and skims out of his briefs, holding Edward's gaze. He watches his lover's nostrils flare as he lies down on the mattress naked with his cock wrapped in his hand. Edward snaps out of his trance, getting rid of his remaining clothes while watching Jasper stroke himself.

"Do you appreciate what you see?" Jasper asks, his voice tight and rough. His thumb smears pre-come over the tip and he tugs at his balls.

Edward's cock hardens before his eyes, switching from hanging between his legs to jutting right towards Jasper, the red blunt head tempting.

Jasper slides his hand between his own ass cheeks, finding his opening and circles his fingertips around there just like he does when he's alone thinking of Edward. His boyfriend throws him a bottle which he opens and coats his fingers in liquid.

"Get yourself open for me," Edward rasps harshly, holding his own cock in his hand, squeezing at the root. The cock-head turns purple and impossibly harder. Jasper licks his mouth at the sight. He wants to suck on it, feel it on his tongue, but that'll come later. For now, he'll give Edward what he's fantasized about in his lonely nights up here.

Pushing a finger into himself, he angles it upwards, moaning as he works his cock faster.

"More," Edward orders and Jasper complies, pushing three fingers inside, stretching himself for his boyfriend to use when he's had his fill of watching.

"Fuck," Jasper mutters, watching as Edward lets his own cock go, his hands stroking over his chest instead, pinching at his nipples which makes his cock jump in front of him. "Can't you fuck me now? I want you in me as I come."

Edward shakes his head. "No, I want to see you orgasm in my bed. You're going to come so hard and then I'll use it as lube, fucking myself way inside you."

Jasper pinches his eyes shut, tilting his head backwards and arches his back while moaning, "Ah!" and he comes, shaking and shuddering in front of Edward. He feels his boyfriend climbing over him, gripping his hand that's still holding his softening cock and Jasper blinks his eyes open. He has to see what Edward's doing.

His white come is all over Edward's hand, stroking it over the condom covering his hard-on. Jasper lifts his knees, making enough room between his legs for his boyfriend to find his hole and push inside, filling him up in one go.

"Aah, you're so tight," Edward moans in his ear as Jasper wraps his legs around the other man.

"You feel so good," Jasper breathes. "So right."

Edward seems to be at the brink of coming from the first thrust inside, his hips driving them upwards as he's moaning incoherent words into Jasper's ear.

His boyfriend works himself in and out, taking what he wants, what they both want and it's the best feeling. Having Edward inside of him makes Jasper feel complete.

He sucks at Edward's neck, biting his lobe, and it doesn't take much before Edward finishes deep inside of him, Jasper kisses him through it, letting the spent body rest upon his as he smiles, stroking over his red-brown hair, and whispers, "I love you, too."

.

FYI: This is an important moment in Jasper's life, of course, but also in Bella's because at this moment one of Jacob's sperm cells is saying 'hello' to a ripe egg inside of her uterus and baby Charlie is created.


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you Jasper1863Hale and Karenec for pre-reading, and Sue273 for betaing. Any remaining mistakes are my own.
> 
> I don't own Twilight. *pout*
> 
> Song: 'Midnight City' by M83: youtube.com/watch?v=dX3k_QDnzHE

.

15 years later. Jasper is 33 years old.

.

"Where's Edward?" Diego asks, pulling at Jasper's sleeve. The man smiles down at the little kid, ruffling his dark hair.

Ever since Diego spent the first months with them at their home, the bond with Edward had been the strongest. After almost nine months, Diego still needs to know where Edward is at all times.

Jasper sits down on his knees, zipping up the kid's jacket—the May air can still be a little too chilly in the evenings without it. "Edward had to work late today, remember? He'll meet us at the office."

Diego looks at him with his huge dark brown eyes. He's always so serious this little one. "All right," he says lowly.

Jasper kisses his forehead before he gets up. "Do you have everything you need ready in your backpack?"

"Yes," the six year old tells him, nodding once.

"Good," Jasper praises, grabbing his own much heavier backpack. "We're ready to go then!" He holds his hand out to Diego.

It's not easy to get this child to smile, or to get the quick feedback of appreciation, but Jasper and Edward are still working on it. They know he'll tell them if something doesn't agree with him, which is a huge step further from the state he was in when he came to them.

Jasper and the little boy take the subway into downtown Seattle, sitting side by side on the plastic seats, their fingers entwined. They've done great work with Diego, the psychologist told them yesterday. He's showing great improvement, and when he gets a permanent home in a few weeks, will hopefully be ready to start school in the fall.

Living as Jasper and Edward do, they never know when they'll get a new child or for how long the kid will stay with them in the emergency foster care they offer. Diego has stayed the longest so far.

Entering the office, Jasper and Diego are greeted by the usual guerrilla gardeners—all familiar faces—young and old, kids and adults. Diego stands still, one hand in Jasper's and the other placed rigidly against his side, his face serious as their friends greet them and ruffle his hair fondly.

Bella pulls a chair forward, sitting down beside the kid while greeting him like an old friend, "Hey, Diego!"

"Hi, Bella," he answers quietly.

"What are you going to plant tonight?" she asks him.

Diego looks up at Jasper, who smiles reassuringly at him, and opens his backpack, showing Bella the bag of seeds and his little shovel. "I'm going to plant sunflower seeds."

"Ooh," she grins. "I think sunflowers are the prettiest!"

"Thanks," he says shyly.

Then he notices Edward coming in through the door and forgets all about his backpack with seeds as he runs to jump his favorite foster parent. Edward catches him, lifting him up. "Hey, buddy! You two got here before me, huh?"

"Guess what I'm going to plant today!" Diego asks proudly, much more forward with Edward than anyone else. "I have sunflower seeds! It's a sunflower! A flower like the sun! And Bella thinks they are the prettiest!"

Edward looks over at Bella. When his husband's eyes reach him, Jasper feels the usual pang in his upper stomach and he can't keep a smile off his face, like it's just the two of them in the room.

Bella nudges him and grins up at him when he looks bewildered at her. "Here," she orders, giving him her hand. "Help me up!"

He pulls at her hand and she and her big baby-belly rise up. Then Edward's by his side, finally. Jasper can feel him without even turning to check. When an arm lands around his waist, he melts into his husband's side.

Jasper places a hand on Bella's belly, on his baby, and she grins at him, mouthing, "I'll give her to you soon."

Then a familiar voice calls from the door, "Hello, everybody! Now we're here, we can get this show on the road!"

Everyone laughs at James and Victoria where they're waiting by the door, letting cold air in with their backpacks ready and rubber boots on. They come into Seattle every month to attend Save The Forest's monthly guerrilla gardening meeting. It was their idea to begin with after walking through the concrete jungle that is Seattle.

Everyone talks and laughs as they find their way. Outside, the spirit in Save The Forest is still the same, even though new generations have come, too. The experienced members like Jasper have taught the newcomers how it's done.

Tonight they're going to make a flower bed a couple of blocks down from the office where there's a high brick wall which used to be gray concrete. Now it's filled with graffiti, but it could still use some flowers underneath to spice it up even more. It's best to do it at night when there's fewer people out to give them trouble for trespassing.

As they walk down the road, the cars whistle past them and Diego walks safely in between Jasper and Edward, telling his favorite parent about his day. Jasper smiles at them as Edward listens to everything the little boy has to tell him, showering him with attention.

He can't wait until Edward and he have their own little one who won't leave them after a few months of getting well enough to be assigned a regular foster home. When Bella offered to help them have a child, Edward wanted Jasper to donate the sperm. 'Making sure there would be someone carrying the amazing Whitlock genes in the future,' he'd said.

Jasper looks back at Bella where she walks beside her teenage son who's carrying her backpack for her. His face is dimpled and his arms too long for his body at the moment, but he's walking confidently beside his mother with a green plant sticking out behind his head. Charlie might have inherited Jacob's colorings, but his personality is luckily all Swan genes. He's never had much contact with his father and in Jasper's opinion he's much better off.

Bella blows Jasper a kiss before he turns around.

Diego knows he's not going to stay long at Jasper and Edward's. To let him think he'll live with them until he's an adult would be deceiving, but they haven't told him they will have their own baby sometime after he leaves. It's really not something for the kid to worry about.

As they reach the wall, Diego lets go of Edward's hand and runs the last few feet to the weeds and trash covering the soil in front of the wall. Jasper finds some plastic bags in his backpack and holds them out for Diego to throw things in; one for weeds and one for unsortable trash.

When they have filled up the cleared space under the wall with soil and organic fertilizer, Diego eagerly gets out his bag of seeds. He digs tiny holes in the ground, puts a seed in each and Jasper follows after him, tucking soil around them.

"We'll have to come back here from time to time, Diego," Edward tells him, staking the Save The Forest Was Here sign into the ground by the wall. "We need to water the flowers and pull up new weeds. This flowerbed is now our responsibility."

"Come on. Diego help a pregnant woman back to the office, will you?" Bella holds out her hand. "I need something hot to drink after working so hard." She winks at Jasper; the only work she's done is pointing and giving out orders.

Jasper tucks Diego's gloves in his backpack and pulls it up on his back. Then Edward's by his side taking his hand and they follow the others back to the office as it gets darker outside. The seeds are safely in the ground ready to grow up and become suns.

Jasper turns his face to Edward's scruff and kisses his cheek. "Love you," he whispers and receives a kiss in return.

.

The End

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> .
> 
> A/N: Thank you for reading my story. Knowing you are out there somewhere in a far away country, want to read and send me wonderful reviews has been inspiring and given me great pleasure.
> 
> I've had the best pre-readers, Jasper1863Hale and Karenec and beta, Sue273 with me all the way, and I can't tell you enough how grateful I am for all your help. Without you, my Norwegian-English would have been unreadable!
> 
> And then there is 35nanou and [Brego_Mellon_Nin.](http://archiveofourown.org/users/Brego_Mellon_Nin/) You two are the reason I've found motivation and energy to keep writing in good and bad days. Much love *wipes eye*
> 
> My story has been nominated for Best Slash in the Non-Canon Awards. My lovely banner made by Mina Rivera is also nominated. Voting is open if you want to vote for your favorites: thenon-canonawards.blogspot.com.au

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed it!  
> I'm on [Tumblr](http://darkhairedguys.tumblr.com/) and [Pinterest](https://no.pinterest.com/dragontattoo75/).


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